How Feelings Change
by Dirty Thoughts of Bliss
Summary: Everything's perfect. Danny's left Amity to go to college with Sam, they're finally together with a baby on the way, his parents know his secret, and he couldn't be happier. But things never stay perfect in Danny's world for long. Lemons COMPLETE
1. Graduation Jitters

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 1: Graduation Jitters**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom.

I started this account as a way to vent all my pent up naughtiness, I read so many Lemon fics and I always want to write one, but I didn't want my account deleted so I created this account, and will right dirty little fics under the Alias of 'Dirty Thoughts of Bliss'. I kind of feel like a chicken ass, but its more laziness than anything, I don't want to have to reload all the fics on my other account if it was deleted. Thus Dirty Thoughts was born!

This fic will start out pretty mild, but the rating will change eventually to M.

ZZZ

Never before had Casper High been so alive with activity as it was now, people were hurrying down the halls, totting carts of decorations in preparation for what proved to be the most memorable graduation in the school's history. Well, memorable for the school's vice-principal. He had been humming happily all year about this class finally leaving him forever; he had actually resorted to bribery in some cases to make sure that every member of this class graduated. The overweight English teacher had had to sell his car to ensure that some of the less motivated students would pass Chemistry, but it was worth it.

A pair of raven haired seniors turned into the hallway, a large box held between them as they headed for the door that would lead them to the football field that they were helping decorate for the weekend's festivities. Lancer narrowed his eyes at the pair as the talked quietly while hefting the large box. If ever in all that time that he had taught high school had there been a pair that he thought would have gotten together before graduation, it would have been them. He had even gone as far as to make a bet with the math teacher that the pair would be engaged by the time they received their diplomas; regrettably he owned Mr. Dupree some money. Sighing heavily as they finally passed him, he hung his head; he saw bright futures for these two, but only if they wised up.

They would be sitting together at graduation, he knew, up in the very front row with the rest of the top ten. Funny, had anyone told him four years ago that Danny Fenton would be ranked number 5 in his graduating class, he probably would have died from laughter. But at the beginning of the boy's sophomore year he buckled down, and began to pull off very high grades. Much Lancer believed, due to his gothic best friend.

A sudden crash came from behind him.

"Battlefield Earth!" the man shouted as he whirled around to face the two teens who were kneeling on the ground cleaning up the box's spilt contents, "Can the two of you please try not to make so much noise!"

"Sorry Mr. Lancer," Sam sighed, scooping up armfuls of garlands and throwing them back in the box.

"Just try not to do it again," he sighed massaging his temples with two fingers. With that he turned and left, leaving the two kneeling on the floor alone to clean up their mess.

"How can a box of garlands be so heavy?" Sam groused as they heaved it back into the air.

"Just be glad the box ghost is leaving us alone," Danny replied as they finally made it out onto the football field. Heading for the stands, the two began to hang up the garlands. Danny worked his way up the bleachers, wrapping the shiny decoration around the metal handrail as Sam kicked the box along on the ground below, throwing him a new bunch whenever he ran out.

Bending over, Sam began to untangle the next bunch as Danny turned to face her, "Almost done, Sam?" he asked as his eyes began to wander to her behind.

"Almost," she replied, "They got really tangled from us dropping the box so many times."

Danny was about to respond when suddenly his one hand phased through the hand railing that he had been leaning against. Unfortunately, his arm was the only thing that went intangible, and his jaw collided roughly with the metal bar. Slumping back, he rubbed his aching chin as Sam climbed up the side of the bleachers, "Are you alright?"

"I banged my jaw on the bar," he groaned painfully, still massaging his tender jaw.

"Let me see," she sighed, kneeling beside him and cupping his face delicately in her hands. Running her cool finger tips along his jaw line, she continued, "You'll have a nasty bruise for graduation, but you didn't do any major damage."

"Man, I can beat every ghost in the ghost zone, and I get my ass kicked by a handrail," he joked, his mind half registering the fact that Sam's hands were still holding his face softly.

"Hey even Batman has an off day," she grinned, her one hand leaving his jaw to brush his raven locks out of his eyes.

"But his sidekick doesn't look as good in tights as mine does," he joked, despite the little voice in the back of his head warning him not to.

"I'll make sure Tucker gets the compliment," Sam replied, getting to her feet and offering him a hand up, "Though I honestly don't think he has the legs to pull it off."

"You know what I mean," he took the hand she was offering and slowly got to his feet, his jaw aching with every jarring movement.

"I don't think that I do," she answered coyly.

Danny kept a hold of her hand even after he was completely upright, and looked at her oddly. Was it just him or was Sam actually flirting back? Then he stopped… flirting back? He hadn't even noticed himself flirting with his best friend to begin with. Had it really become so natural to flirt with her that he was doing it subconsciously? But suddenly he really didn't care all that much that it was in fact his best friend that he was flirting with. A goofy grin spread across his face as he pulled her closer by the hand that he still clenched in his own. Her breathe hitched, as their chests bumped against one another; he was beginning to bring his face towards hers, and she was faintly aware that she had rocked forward onto the balls of her feet.

"Oh, Da-an-n-ny!" an annoyingly familiar and shrill voice cut through the football field as Paulina made her way towards the bleachers.

The two pulled apart quickly, both faces stained a bright crimson, as Danny choked out a response, "Yeah, Paulina? What is it?"

"I want to know if the ghost boy is coming to graduation to see me!" she asked happily, clasping her hands together with excitement.

"Sorry he can't come," Danny grimaced as he formulated a lie, "He's got to be… err… somewhere, Saturday and he can't make it."

"But I want him to see me graduate!" she whined, her eyes becoming glassy with fake tear as her bottom lip began to quiver.

"He said that he's really sorry about it though," Danny added, grasping desperately for something that would stop her tears. The hero in him hated it when a girl cried.

"Okay!" she chirped happily, her mood doing a complete 360; turning she skipped away.

"I'm beginning to think that she's bi-polar," Sam whispered into his ear, "Either that or her hormones are so out of whack that she's having mood swings."

"No," he replied with a sigh, "She's just fake."

"Finally you see it my way!" a wide grin had spread across her face at his statement.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he chuckled scratching the back of his head nervously, "I don't know why I was so gaga over her freshman year."

"Guys think with the wrong head," she answered dismissively as she climbed down the bleachers and grabbed a bunch of garland, throwing it up to him.

"I resent that," he grumbled as he went back to wrapping the bleachers with the garland now in his hands.

ZZZ

Opening the door slowly, Danny slouched into the house picking up the mail; leafing through it as he headed to the kitchen he pulled out three envelopes addressed to him, all baring the emblem of a different school. Dropping the rest of the mail on the table and grabbing a bottle of water, he headed up to his room, the three envelopes clenched in his hand. He had applied really late, and wasn't even sure if there was room left for him at his safety school, Amity Park Community College. Picking up that envelope first he opened it easily and pulled out the letter; a quick scan of it revealed that there had in fact been room for him. The next envelope he opened was from Amity State University, how the town was big enough for two colleges he would never know; after reading the first few lines he smiled, he had gotten in there too.

Picking up the third and final envelope he sighed heavily, there was no way he was making it into this one, and even if he did, he knew that he couldn't go. Caldwell University was a private school in a small town in Colorado; he had only really applied on a whim. It was Sam's first choice school, she had been accepted months ago, and from the pamphlets that she had shown him it looked great; they even offered full financial aid to students whose families made under $60,000 a year, and his family definitely qualified for that, especially with Jazz attending Harvard. But he could never leave Amity Park, it would be in to much danger if he did.

Opening the envelope slowly he pulled out the letter, fingering the thick parchment slightly he unfolded it and began to read.

_Dear Mr. Fenton,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Caldwell for the upcoming fall Semester, also you family qualifies for enough financial aid to cover everything but your room and board…_

The letter continued on but he didn't read a word of it, he had been accepted to Caldwell and he was going to have to turn it down. Instead of going to a great school with his best friend, he was going to be stuck at Amity State with half of his graduating class, most of which he didn't even like. He wouldn't even have Tucker, who was leaving in the middle of June for San Hidalgo Institute of Technology in the Virgin Islands. Life sucked, he decided vehemently.

A chill ran up his back as a pale blue vapor escaped his mouth, "Damn," he growled, "This is the last thing I needed!"

"Relax child," the calm, even voice of Clockwork echoed in his ears as the ghost appeared in his elderly form, "It is only me." He could see Danny visibly tense, "Do not worry," he became his child self, "He has not escaped. I came to warn you of an event that will likely damage the time stream." Assuming his adult form he continued, "You must go away to school, if you don't Amity will continue to be riddled with increasingly violent ghost attacks," back to his elderly form, "After the defeat of Pariah Dark nearly four years ago a civil war has been brewing in the ghost zone. I fear that your proximity to the portal may over time, begin to draw the battle here as well, as you are the one who actually defeated the ghost king."

Danny looked like he was going to interrupt, but Clockwork pressed on, suddenly becoming a child again, "If you could put some distance between you and it while the war is raging, you can prevent the accidental creation of your evil future self, by keeping ghosts that would harm your family and friends away." He shifted back to his adult form, "What little ghost activity that will remain here, is so small that your parents will be able to easily handle it."

"What if the ghosts come anyway?" he asked, watching as Clockwork once again became elderly.

"You forget that I am the Master of all Time," Clockwork chuckled, "I know it will be alright." He became an infant again.

"Will I at least be able to visit my family?" he asked, rubbing his face with his hands, not liking that he was being asked to abandon his home, even if it solved a lot of his problems.

"Of course," he took his adult form, "Even for summer. Just the act of distancing yourself from the portal for a short time will do the trick; it will thin your ectoplasmic residue enough to keep them at bay. Now I must leave, your parents will be back shortly and I don't believe that it would be good for them to see me." And just like that he was gone.

"God this day just keeps getting weirder," he sighed, his head in his hands as he dropped heavily onto his bed. Laying back, he closed his eyes; the day had been such a rush, and his mind was still spinning.

The phone on his bed stand began to ring and he reached for it, bringing it to his ear. "Hello," he grumbled.

"I can't do it… I just can't," came Sam's frantic sounding voice from the other side of the phone.

"Do what Sam?" he asked, sitting up quickly, his mind suddenly clearing.

"I can't go... I thought I could, but I can't… So I'm not," she was talking quickly, and her breathing was shallow, "They're going to be so mad… I wanted to go, I thought I could handle it… But I can't, now I'm staying."

"Sam relax," he soothed as best he could. He could tell by her voice that she was nearing a panic attack, his sister had used to have them all the time, but he never remembered Sam ever having one. "Just stay put, and try to remain calm, I'm coming over right now."

"Alright," she answered, her voice shaking with anxiety. "Please hurry."

"I will," he assured her before he hung up and quickly transformed into his ghost self. Her words had been such a jumble, he had never heard her that upset and it had his heart pounding loudly in his ears as he flew.

'Please be alright Sam.'

ZZZ

A/N: Alright this is the end of chapter one. I'm going against my better judgment and posting this now instead of after I get a couple of chapters done. Reviews will encourage me to write, so please feel free to tell me what you think. I'm going to gloss over, and simplify a lot of the college stuff as well because I don't want to bore people to death with the details of paying for classes and the reality that Financial aid is really hard to come by unless you have a super small income.

There was really no fluff in this chapter, but there will be MAJOR FLUFF IN CHAPTER 2! And stuff will really start to heat up in a couple of chapters, but I'll post warnings at the beginning of any lemon chapters, so no worries.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	2. Quelling the Panic

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 2: Quelling the Panic**

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does.

I've decided to try and update at least every Thursday, but don't hold me to it, classes are a real bitch and you never know when you may get assigned a giant ass paper at the last minute.

Here's Chapter 2, and the promised fluff (Though its not as much as I originally intended)!

ZZZ

His invisible form jetted across the sky, Sam's mansion soon came into view; flying down to the balcony, he phased through her window. The inside of her room was a mess and not even a single light was on, but he could still make out Sam's distinct shape pacing agitatedly next to her bed like a caged predator. Floating across the room he landed behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he resumed his human form with a quick flash of light. Sam spun around quickly and threw herself into his chest, she didn't even have to look to know who it was; the twenty degree drop in temperature only moments before had told her all that she needed to know.

"What's wrong Sam?" he asked softly, wrapping his arms around her as she snuggled roughly against him.

"I can't go, I just can't leave!" shaking her head quickly, causing her ponytail to bob madly she continued, her voice so weak it frightened him, "They bought me a house, Danny. They said it's so I don't have to live in a crappy dorm or come home over breaks, they'll just fly out to see me on university holidays." Her face was still pressed against his chest, so he felt, rather than saw, her lip begin to quiver as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "They told me that it's time to just move on and make new friends, and leave everything else behind!"

Her tears started in earnest now as her arms closed tightly around his waist, her face pressing harder into his chest.

"Shh, Sam," he soothed as best he could, planting a soft kiss atop her head, "It's going to be alright. Everything is going to turn out fine."

"But," she whimpered, "They're trying to keep me away from you and everything here in Amity! I'll never see you again, if they have their way, they have everything planned out!"

"Then I guess that it'll really piss them off when they find out that I'm going to Caldwell too," she looked up at him with watery amethyst eyes, "I got my acceptance letter just a little while before you called."

"I thought you said that you couldn't leave Amity," she whispered, as if she was afraid that talking to loud would cause her to wake up and find out that it was all a dream. One of her hands found its way to his hair, and began to massage his scalp softly as her fingers tangled themselves in his ebony locks.

"I really did think that I had to stay here," he answered, hugging her tighter and nuzzling his face into her hair. He had always loved the way she smelt, and he breathed in deeply, drawing in as much of her sweet lavender scent as he physically could, "But I got a visit from Clockwork, and he told me that I needed to go away to school. Apparently there's been a civil war brewing in the ghost zone since I defeated Pariah Dark, and it's finally come to a head. He fears that me being so close to the Fenton Portal might draw the battle here."

He loosened his grip on her as she leaned back to look him in the eye appraisingly. Twin trails of black, snaked down her cheeks from where her tears had caused her eyeliner to run, and her deep purple eyes were puffy from crying, but never before had the urge to kiss her been so strong. Her lips pursed slightly, and a lump formed in his throat.

"So you're coming to Caldwell with me?" she asked timidly as his eyes following the changing shape of her lips as she spoke. God, how he just wanted to lean forward and kiss her…

"Yep," he nodded, watching as the excitement built in her eyes. She looked like a child that had unwrapped the one present that they wanted to get more than anything else.

Without warning she launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a crushing hug, before pulling back and giving him a quick peck on the lips. She moved her face away slowly, studying his face, watching intently for his reaction.

Leaning in he captured her lips with his own and kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding along her lip causing her to open her mouth with a throaty gasp. Snaking her arms back around his neck, she pulled him tighter to her, amazed that there was still space between them. Breaking apart after a moment for some much needed air, they looked at each other, completely entranced by the expression on one another's faces. They bore nearly identical expressions, but neither was quiet sure what the looks meant; they were so many emotions wrapped into one that it left their heads spinning just thinking about it.

Slowly he began to close the short distance between them once again, but the sudden shrieking of Sam's mother cut them short, "Oh Sammykins!" Both jumped back, their eyes shooting to the closed door that any second would open to reveal Sam's much too perky mother.

"Go quick," Sam hissed, her hands pressing firmly against his chest as if to emphasize her point, "We'll talk later."

"Alright," he answered, going ghost without yelling his catch phrase, for fear of alerting Sam's mom to his presence, "I'll see you tomorrow at Graduation." With those final words he went invisible and left.

"What do you want mom?" Sam asked, as her door opened a split second later.

"Oh nothing much," she answered, whisking into her daughters room and seating herself on the bed, "I just wanted to tell you that your father and I set up a checking account for you today. Don't worry, there's plenty of money in there for you to furnish you new house with, and to cover books and groceries, and the like. We'll make a deposit into it for you every month, so you don't have to worry."

"Oh thanks mom," she answered sarcastically, she had given up on the battle of a college students financial strife building character long ago. "Is there anything else."

"I found the cutest dress for you to wear tomorrow while I was out shopping!" her mother gushed, jumping to her feet, surely to go fetch the pink monstrosity, but Sam stopped her.

"Mom, I already have a dress," she sighed as the happy expression on her mother's face faded away, "I had to get something that fit with the dress code that the school set for graduation. I bought it weeks ago."

"Surely the dress I bought fits the dress code," her mother added, a smile slowly creeping back onto her face, "It's the loveliest shade of pink and its full length too!"

She rolled her eyes formulating a plan, "Mom our graduation robes are dark red, didn't you always tell me that pink and red clash?"

"Well I guess I did," her mom said perkily, as if she herself had just pointed out a major problem, "Then I suppose that you'll just have to settle for whatever dress it is that you found." Standing up quickly her mother sashayed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as her mother's footsteps disappeared down the hallway, she threw herself backwards onto her bed with a groan. Her mother certainly had the worst timing, after that first kiss that they had shared only moments before she was positive that Danny was about to move in for another when her mother had interrupted. Growling with agitation, she rolled onto her stomach and grabbed a pillow to lay her head on. Everything was so confusing, and had always been that way. Tucker had once made a joke about the sexual tension between her and Danny being so thick that you could practically feel it. Both of them had denied it quiet loudly, but for the next week they had been so awkward around each other; it had been like they were trying their hardest to prove him wrong.

The worst part was that now that she looked back at it, she realized that Tucker had been right. Burying her face into her pillow, she thought back to all the awkward moments; the brushing hands, the tripping into one another, finishing each other's sentences, the glances between them, the fake-out make-outs, and a million other instances when it became obvious just how much they were attracted to one another. She knew exactly how she felt about Danny, she had spent long enough denying it, but it was no use anymore. She cared about him to much to pretend that her feelings didn't exist.

It was him that she was unsure of, and even though he had instigated the kiss they had just shared, she still didn't know exactly how he felt about her.

Sometimes he acted like he cared about her as much as she cared about him, but other times he was paying to much attention to girls like Paulina and Valerie to even notice that she was alive. Tucker told her over and over again that Danny liked her, but she couldn't quiet take the tech geek's words to heart. She needed to hear them from Danny, it was as simple as that; the kiss had been a sign, but still she longed to hear the words. To know that it was more than just physical attraction.

He was physically attracted to her, there was no denying that. She blushed remembering the time that he had had to make an excuse to run off to the bathroom on movie night a few weeks ago.

_Movies and bowels of popcorn were strewn across the living room, Tucker sat in the big arm chair and Danny and Sam were on the couch. They had been watching movies for over six hours straight, and everyone was beginning to dose off. Tucker had his legs hanging over one of the chairs armrests as he used the other for a pillow. Danny was laying stretched out on the couch with Sam laying in front of him, snuggled down far enough that he could see over her head; one of his arms was draped lazily over her side and his palm rested gently on her stomach._

_They had been lying like this for a while, content and comfortably watching the movies that they had rented. About half way through the last movie, Danny began to squirm around._

"_Danny, the movies halfway over," she yawned, "Just quit squirming." Leaning back into his chest further, she felt him tense. Wiggling around slightly to become comfortable again after Danny's squirming, she suddenly felt something hard poking her in the back. Both of them tensed, it was obvious to both of them that the other one knew, and they just lay in silence for a minute, unsure of what to do. Sam could feel her body responding to Danny and she cursed silently to herself, this was the last thing that she needed, especially with Tucker lying barely five feet away from them._

_The hand lying on her stomach began to move nervously, his fingertips dancing along the band of exposed flesh peeking out from underneath her tank top. The skin to skin contact felt like fire and nerve impulses shot up her back like electricity; she didn't know how much more she could take just lying there motionless. A moan escaped her lips a second later, and she clamped her eyes shut, terrified of Danny's reaction; surely he would disgusted and move away. Oh, how she wanted him to move away! But at the same time she wanted him to stay right where he was and continue what he was doing._

_It was like a torturously divine punishment, and she didn't want it to stop._

_Slowly his hand crept lower on her stomach, until his fingertips were tapping over the waist band of her bed pants. That was all it took to push her into seizing control. Rolling over she pushed him down into the coach and slid over him until she was straddling him. At first he looked surprised, but quickly his face took on a look akin to that which graced his face whenever Paulina would strut past at school. She could feel just how much she was affecting him, and she watched, almost hypnotized as he swallowed nervously. Gracefully she began to move her face towards him until they were only inches apart. Both could feel the others breathe on their faces, and heartbeats began to race; the space began to close between them._

_Suddenly a grunt could be heard from the nearby armchair as Tucker rolled over._

_After what seemed like an eternity, Danny spoke, his voice hoarse and strained, "I really have to use the bathroom. I'll be right back." Pushing her off him gently he clambered off the couch, disappearing down the hallway, leaving a worried and very much bothered Sam alone on the couch. He returned twenty minutes later, and without even looking at her, sat on the floor at the end of the couch nearest her feet. They were both silent for the rest of the night._

They had been so tense and nervous around each other after that, that they had forced Tucker to sit between them for three days before he finally told them enough was enough and made them sit beside each other like they had done since grade school.

Yawning, Sam took off her boots and climbed under the covers, it was still a little early to be going to bed but right then she just wanted to lay there. Her bed had always been a comfort zone for her, and with her troubled mind, she definitely needed comfort. So many thoughts were racing through her head, every time she and Danny seemed to be getting closer someone interrupts, whether it's Tucker or her parents. But in a few months, she and Danny would be at school in Colorado, thousands of miles away from everyone else they knew. There would be no one there to stop them from that second kiss, or anything else for that matter. An excited shiver ran down her spine, she didn't know what to expect now, for so long it had been the three of them, the terrible trio of Casper High, in a place where everyone knew them. Soon it would be just her and Danny in a place where nobody knew them. And on top of all that, she now had her own house…

She shook her head to try and free her thoughts from the gutter. Her phone rang suddenly and she rolled over picking it up.

"Hello," she said automatically.

"Hey Sam," Danny's slightly nervous voice greeted causing a blush to spread across her cheeks.

"What's up?" she replied, rolling onto her stomach trying desperately to keep her thoughts from wandering back to the gutter.

"Nothing," he sounded both bored and anxious, "I was just looking at the Caldwell dorms on the internet; they really suck."

"Yeah," she answered, remembering what she had read about them in the pamphlets she had, "Its four people to a room and each floor shares a huge communal bathroom."

"It'll be just like the guys locker room at Casper, except with complete strangers," he joked trying to kill the tension that was still building between them. She could hear the clicking of a mouse in the background.

"Just watch out, with those boyish good looks of yours you'll be a prime target for any guys on your floor that swing both ways," she couldn't help but laugh as she added, "Don't drop the soap!" An image of a wet and soapy Danny popped into her head and she blushed a deep crimson.

"Thanks miss my-parents-bought-me-a-house," he said with mock sarcasm, beginning to feel a lot better as the tension began to loosen between them, "I 'was' filling out my housing request."

Suddenly she had a flashback to what her parents had said earlier. "Hey, my house has two bedrooms," she said after a moment, sounding completely spaced.

"What?" Danny asked, not following her train of thought.

"You can just live with me," she clarified, suddenly amazed by her own thoughts, "My house has two bedrooms, one is supposed to be a guestroom but it can be your room!"

"You serious," he asked his voice hopeful.

"Completely," she replied excitedly, the embarrassed tension from moments before temporarily forgotten as she sat up hurriedly.

She could almost hear him smile, "This is going to be awesome!"

"My parents can't find out though," she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a slender finger, "They'd probably go nuts and file another restraining order on you."

"Ditto with mine," he shuddered, "I can not live through another one of my father's lectures on not giving into teenage hormones."

"We'll have to tell Tucker," she sighed resignedly, knowing exactly what their tech-obsessed friend was going to say when they told him that they were going to be living together, "He'll figure it out when we both give him the same mailing address."

"We should probably let Jazz know as well," he added, sounding as though he was none to thrilled with telling his sister anything, "I have a feeling if we didn't, she'd drop in unannounced and automatically assume the worst when she found out."

"Yeah," she answered, twirling the phone cord around her fingers, "Plus she'll be able to give a fair warning if you parents plan a visit without telling you. She talks to your mom like 12 times a day while she's at school so she'd definitely find out about an unannounced visit."

They were silent for a minute. "So we're living together?" Danny said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head in nervousness.

"Yeah," she blushed deeply. She was very glad that they were having this conversation over the phone.

"This is going to be great," he said, his face splitting into a smile that seemed to light up his entire face.

"It's going to be so different," she continued softly, "We'll be completely responsible for ourselves and everything that we do."

"At least there won't be any ghosts."

Sam grimaced. "About that," she laughed nervously, knowing that it was better to just get what she had to say over with.

"What?" he asked slightly confused and worried by her tone of voice.

"Um," Sam muttered, not sure of how to begin, "Caldwell just so happens to be on the top ten most haunted Universities list."

"Why in your right mind would you choose to go to a haunted school! If a ghost hurt you, I'd never forgive myself for not being there to protect you!" he growled, switching quickly into 'over protective mode'.

"Well," she started matter-o-factly hoping to explain her way of thinking in a way that would settle the irate halfa, "Spirit Haven, the town that the school is in has one of the lowest crime rates among university towns in the nation. I figured that I could better handle an attacking ghost than a burglar or a rapist…"

Danny cringed before speaking, her words striking him hard especially 'rapist', he hated the idea of someone taking advantage of Sam, "That does make sense, but it makes me feel better to know that I'll be there with you, just in case. Do your parents know Caldwell is haunted?"

"No," she answered easily, knowing that he was ready to drop the subject without further argument, "They'd never let me go if they knew, even though the ghosts in Spirit Haven are considered non-malevolent. The worst they to is stack books in the library or lock people in certain buildings on campus. They just like to pull pranks like a certain halfa I know."

"Haha, very funny," he mocked rolling his eyes, "That's the worst that ghosts in Amity did before you talked me into going into the Fenton Portal, now look at what they're doing!"

"There's one major difference though."

"And what would that be?" he asked burying his face into his pillow, hoping that she had come up with something good.

"Spirit Haven doesn't have a portal," she answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "The only ghosts there are the ones that have been there since they were alive."

"Well that's a relief," he paused for a minute, glancing at his alarm clock, "Damn Sam it's already midnight. We both need to get some rest for tomorrow; Lancer will kill us if we fall asleep during our own graduation."

"Alright," she yawned, "And thank you for calming me down earlier, I was really getting myself freaked out about all that stuff my parents said."

"It's not a problem Sammy, its what I'm here for," he heard her groan at the nickname, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Danny," she replied as she hung up the phone, and snuggled under her covers, not caring that she was still wearing the clothes that she had been wearing all day. She felt to much at peace as her body relaxed into her soft mattress, to worry about changing into her night clothes.

'Tomorrow will be a good day,' she decided as she drifted off to sleep.

ZZZ

A/N: Here's Chapter 2! Y'all better be happy with it, because I stayed up until one in the morning editing this thing to get it ready for posting! I'll finally get to Graduation in chapter 3, which I will hopefully post Thursday, but that all hinges on how well my six page English paper goes.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	3. Graduation

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 3: Graduation**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it! But if I did, those asses at Nickelodeon wouldn't be canceling it!

I know that I said Thursday, but I finished earlier than expected (After getting a pretty good start on my English paper).

There graduation is kind of based off mine, despite the fact that mine was held in a rodeo arena and not on the football field. The top ten sitting in the first row is a tradition at my school, and I thought that it would be funny for Danny to be number 5 in his class. It's also completely plausible. I was number 5 and I screwed around for most of the time that I was in high school, so I think that it's completely possible for him to have turned it around. And about Tucker not being in the top ten, I see him as more of a tech genius than book smart. So whatever….

On with the madness!

ZZZ

It had been a full twenty minutes since there entire class had marched onto the football field, and they were still sitting there in a near comatose state as Lancer neared the middle of his welcoming address. Apparently he was more grateful for them actually graduating than most of the seniors were. A faint snore could be heard coming from a few rows back and Danny groaned, having a feeling that it was Tucker; a resounding smack and a sharp yelp from the boy in question, confirmed his suspicions.

"I wonder who smacked him this time," Sam whispered out of the corner of her mouth, as she shifted in her chair for the hundredth time in the past 2 minutes. She didn't like sitting in the front row, and not for what seemed to be the obvious reason. She was more uncomfortable with the millions of pictures her parent's personal photographer was snapping, than the dozens of eyes trained on the sea of students that she and her fellow members of the top ten were at the forefront of.

"By how loud the smack was, I bet that it's Valerie," Danny replied quietly.

"Probably right," she answered, before shooting Lancer an agitated look, "Is he ever going to stop talking?"

"Relax Sammy," Danny grinned as she shot him a death glare, "It'll be over soon enough." Turning his attention to the vice-principal for the first time since the beginning of graduation, he slid his hand into Sam's and laced their fingers together. She blushed prettily, but didn't pull her hand away.

"…I have seen a little bit of everything with this class, and deep down beneath it all, I know that they will be alright out there in the real world." Mr. Lancer sniffled slightly and tried to inconspicuously rub his eyes, "But as I look out on this crowd of young people I know that some things will never change." He took a deep breathe, "Mr. Foley will never stop falling asleep during assemblies, Ms. Sanchez will never be caught anywhere without her make-up bag…" the Latino girl tried to quickly hide the make-up that she was reapplying, "Mr. Baxter shall never cease to have an abundance of self confidence and," he paused again, though this time it seemed like it was more for dramatic affect than anything, "Our Casper High lovebirds will never cease to have their private conversations during public events and, as Mr. Foley has so accurately dubbed them, their 'blushy moments'."

Danny and Sam blushed deeply, though they still kept a firm hold on one another's hand.

"But this is what has made this class special, not only to me but to Casper High in general," the man was now practically beaming at the group of young adults that had made the last four years of his life a living hell. "So as the kids say, 'lets get this party started old school, yo!" After giving a hand gesture the no one quiet understood, he went to stand by the principal, signaling that the actual diploma portion of the graduation was about to begin.

The first row of students stood and the principal began calling their names; as Sam's name was finally read aloud Danny reluctantly released her hand and watched her move to the podium to get her diploma. He was so engrossed in watching the, not so secret, object of his affections that he would have missed his name being called, had the girl next to him, not shoved him forward. Grinning sheepishly he too walked to the podium and shook hands with the principal and Mr. Lancer, taking his diploma triumphantly. No sooner than the roll of paper was in his hand, than a mist of blue spectral air crept out of his mouth; his eyes got big.

Why did his ghost sense have to go off now of all times?

His eyes began to dart around frantically as he made his way back to stand by Sam, she knew just by the look in his eyes what had happened. "There's no way out!" he mumbled to her in a panic, as there row was instructed to be seated and the next one rose.

"There are just too many people here," she whispered back as she too began to look around for the ghost, "You'll never be able to sneak past all of them!"

Suddenly, several feet above the principal, the ghost appeared a smug look on his face, "I am the Box Ghost, Master of all things square and cardboard! Beware!"

"Oh jeese," Danny grumbled, "Him again! I just dealt with him this morning!"

But before Sam could answer, shouts of 'Ghost!' and the firing of an ectocannon could be heard from the crowd, and after flying back several feet, the ghost flew towards his attacker.

"Damn," Danny grimaced, burying his face in his hands, "Mom told him not to bring the ectocannon! And there's no way for me to get out of here to deal with him…"

Sam craned her neck to see where the Fenton's were sitting. Giggling she turned back to Danny, "That was your mom firing the ectocannon." The whooshing sound of the Fenton Thermos could be heard and she looked back over her shoulder, before turning to the highly embarrassed Danny beside her, "And that was your sister."

"And here I thought Dad was the one that I had to worry about," he groaned, bowing his head further.

"Well look on the bright side," she said soothingly as she pulled his hands from his face, clenching them both tightly in hers, "At least now you know that your family's getting better at this, normally the ghost gets away, if there was even one to begin with. They'll definitely be able to handle stuff while you're at Caldwell."

"I guess your right," he murmured, allowing her to pull one hand away, but keeping the other firmly in his grip.

"I'm always right," she grinned at him, before turning back to the principal who was continuing with the graduation ceremony like nothing had happened.

The rest of the ceremony was quiet, though at one point Danny was sure he heard Sam beginning to sniffle slightly. He glanced at her but her face was emotionless; he squeezed her hand slightly and she smiled ever so softly in reply.

The principal began to wind down, and soon she was at the end of her lengthy speech about how she was sure that every member of the class would go on to succeed and do great things, "Now I present to you, the newly graduated class of 2006!"

As one, the entire class leapt to their feet, launching caps into the air, everyone was excitedly hugging and congratulating everyone for finally making it out. Danny pulled Sam into a hug, holding her tightly to his chest; he could feel her standing on tiptoe to press her face into the crook of his neck, and a sudden wetness on his neck surprised him. It took him several moments to realize the she was crying; it wasn't the full out sobbing that some of the girls around them were doing, but instead it was a slow steady stream of tears that flowed down his neck.

They were tears of relief.

Relief that they had survived high school in more ways than the typical connotation of the phrase. Relief that everything really had turned out alright. And relief to be standing there with her best friend. Looping her arms around his neck she looked up at him, her amethyst eyes glassy and puffy. Looking down at her he smiled, tightening his grip on her waist.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" he murmured, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Yeah right," she laughed, "My eyeliner is probably all over the place, and my eyes are puffy from crying. I'm a real mess."

"Messy is good," he whispered, their eyes locking.

"If you say so," she said breathlessly, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I do," he uttered as he leaned down and captured her slightly parted lips in a kiss.

Running her hands through his hair, Sam shut her mind off, ignoring the logical part of her brain that was screaming at her to stop, and giving into the part that was enjoying the gentle attention Danny's lips were giving hers. His tongue slid across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to him, moaning softly as his tongue prodded hers to action. There was no way that this was a fake-out make-out and they both knew it, and so did the crowd of people that surrounded them. Not a sound could be heard as everyone on the football field fell silent. Some pointed, others became wide-eyed in amazement, a few made motions for friends to pay up, while more still suddenly broke into wild cheers after the several moments of tense silence.

The two broke apart, looking at the crowd around them in alarm, still holding onto one another tightly.

"It's about damn time!" Tucker shouted over the cheers, causing his friends to blush.

A frown, crept over Sam's face, and Danny looked down at her, mouth open in preparation of an apology, but she cut him off, her eyes locked on the disapproving forms of her parents as she spoke, "Don't apologize. There's nothing to apologize for."

"Then why the frown?" he asked, slowly releasing her.

"Because I already can tell that I'm going to have a battle with my parents when I get home," she replied, her eyes narrowing at her parents who were scowling at her and the back of the boy in front of her.

"Good thing we're going to that party at Tuck's," he said.

"Yeah it'll give them some time to blow off some steam," she paused, "Either that or it'll give them time to get even madder."

"Let's hope it's the first," he smiled boyishly as the crowd finally stopped cheering, and people began to move around like they had been doing before. Danny's parents crowded behind them and both were pulled into bone crushing hugs. Both looked sheepish as they were finally released.

"We knew that it was coming," Danny's mom said with a grin.

"Everyone knew mom!" Jazz laughed.

Danny and Sam exchanged nervous glances as the Fentons continued to talk animatedly. They hadn't even had a chance to talk about what had happened yet and already people were making assumptions. Touching Danny's arm lightly, Sam whispered, "I need to go talk to my parents a little bit, but I'll meet you out in the parking lot to head to Tucker's party. Alright?"

"Yeah," he nodded; just then remembering that Sam had rode to Graduation with him, seeing as how they needed to be there early because of the decorations committee. They had planned to then ride together to Tucker's after the ceremony was over.

Turning the girl headed cross the field, Danny watching her slender form move gracefully to her parents; he couldn't help but hope that they kiss had meant as much to her as it did to him.

Taking a deep breath, Sam completed the short walk to her parent's side, preparing herself for their lecture as she went. It was bad enough that her parents hated her best friend, but now… She shuddered just thinking about it.

"Well I hope that you're proud of yourself Samantha!" her father scolded, his arms crossed angrily across his chest.

"You have disgraced our entire family!" her mother added, her face livid with anger, her small hands clenched tightly into fists at her side.

"It was a goodbye kiss," she practically growled, reminding her self that her parents didn't know about Danny going to Caldwell, "We're probably only going to see each other a few more times before I move. It wasn't a big deal, really!" But as she spoke her heart was screaming in her ear, 'It was a big deal and you know it.'

"Well it still shouldn't have happened," her mother's frown deepened, "But seeing as how you're moving away from this place in a few months, and will never see that dreadful boy again, I suppose that we can forgo another restraining order."

Sam exhaled heavily with relief; she hadn't even realized that she was holding her breath, "Thanks."

"We didn't do it for thanks," her father said, "We just know that when you're at Caldwell you'll come to your senses and stop fawning over that stupid boy."

"Danny's not stupid!" she narrowed her eyes at them.

"Whatever dear," her mother waved a hand at her dismissively, as if nothing was amiss, "Don't you have a party that you should be getting to."

"Yeah," Sam replied, unsure of where her mother's sudden mood swing had come from.

"Then you should get going," the woman continued, "There's a fine line between fashionably late, and tacky late." With that she spun on her heal and headed to where the family chauffer would be waiting with the limo. Her father shot Danny one more dirty look from across the field before he turned to follow the retreating woman.

'That was weird,' she thought at she shook her head and started back toward the Fentons. Most everyone else had already left so the field was beginning to look quiet empty. Coming to a stop beside Danny, she leaned her head on his shoulder, catching the tail end of a story that Jazz was telling about her freshman year at Harvard. It really didn't seem to be all that interesting a story, so she tuned out Jazz's voice and closed her eyes, drawing comfort from Danny's presence. Almost as if he could sense her conflicting emotions concerning her parents, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer.

Jazz noticed the two and smiled, before adding, having just finished her story, "Mom, Dad, we should be headed home and let these two get to their party."

"You're right dear," Maddie smiled as she grabbed Jack by the arm and began to drag him towards the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle, but Jazz hung back.

"You two behave," the girl said sternly to the two, who were still leaning on one another, before adding jokingly, "I am too young to be an aunt!"

"Well I'm too young to be an uncle Jazz," he gave her a pointed glare.

Jazz blanched whiter than a ghost as she choked out, "How did you know?"

Sam looked between the two siblings, not quiet sure if they were implying what she thought they were. But then Danny spoke, "You left the EPT box out in the bathroom. I threw it out for you so mom wouldn't find it. Then when Gary called the next day he was all excited and spilled his guts about the whole thing. It's a good thing I warned him not to say anything to mom or dad."

"I owe you big, little brother," she sighed, her hand coming to rest on her stomach, "We're planning on getting married next summer, and I'm hoping I can manage to tell mom and dad everything before I'm due in December."

"You'll manage," Danny smiled comfortingly at his sister.

"Jazz are you coming?" Maddie yelled from across the field.

"Be right there mom!" she shouted as she headed for the RV. Danny began to lead Sam to his car as she tried to process what she had just heard.

"So Jazz is Pregnant," she said, her mind finally managing to wrap itself around the concept.

"Yeah," he answered opening the trunk so they could throw all their graduation stuff in there, "She's two months along."

"Somehow its weird thinking about her being pregnant," she sighed, climbing into the passenger seat, "I never figured that she'd have kids, or get married for that matter, until after college."

"Well I guess Gary changed all that," Danny answered as he started the car and began to back out, "He's a good guy though, and he was planning on purposing long before Jazz was even pregnant."

"That's good," she smiled, "I would hate to think that the only reason that she was getting married was because of the baby. She deserves to be happy."

"I really think that she is happy," he took her hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze as he drove one-handed through Amity, "I've seen her sneaking looks at baby stuff while she thinks that no ones looking. And I caught her reading some of mom's old books on pregnancy and child care."

"Same old Jazz."

"Yep," he replied, "And we're the only ones besides Jazz and Gary that know about it."

"Wow," a sneaky smirk spread across her face, "We should seriously get her a bunch of baby stuff and charge it to the credit card that my parents got me. It'll give them a heart attack when they see the statement, and it'll help Jazz and Gary out. Harvard is expensive, so every little bit helps."

"Yeah," he answered in a kind of spacey tone, his mind obviously having wandered from the conversation at hand. Then, without warning, he turned into a nearby parking lot and stopping the car, "Sam we need to talk."

Licking her lips nervously, she met his eyes. "About what?" she asked, even though she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You know what," he answered softly, breaking his eyes away from hers.

'This is going to be awkward,' she thought, closing her eyes.

ZZZ

A/N: Well that's another Chapter! Next chapter we'll get to the big 'talk'. And the whole thing with Jazz… I just couldn't help myself, she's an awesome character and I just thought that this was a perfect situation to put her in to add interest to the plot. I already have plans for this, and it's going to be fun. I'll try to have another chapter up by the beginning of next week, but no promises.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	4. The Talk

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 4: The Talk**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, the amazing Butch Hartman does.

This chapter picks up exactly were the last one left off, and I actually started it the morning after I posted the last chapter. I am really getting hooked to writing this story, but we'll see how long that lasts. I'm writers block's favorite victim.

As the chapter's title implies, this is about the big 'talk' between Danny and Sam. Don't be disappointed with the shortness of the talk in the chapter, its spread out through the chapter, and I also decided to elaborate more on Danny and Sam throughout the progression of the story. I kind of decided to drag it out, I hope nobody minds to much.

On with the story!

ZZZ

Opening her eyes slowly she met Danny's nervous gaze; he was looking at her in a way that she had seen only a few times in the years that they had been friends. His crystal blue eyes were locked on hers almost pleadingly. Reaching out he caught one of her hands and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it lightly before turning it over and doing the same to her palm. Shivering, she shifted herself so that she was facing him directly, and he did the same. It was time to talk and they both knew it. The conversation that they had been putting off for so long; she had once told Tucker that if her and Danny ever had this talk, she wouldn't say love, that it was made meaningless by overuse, and she didn't want anything that she ever said to Danny to be meaningless. He had just laughed and told her that that was the same thing Danny had said to him a few days ago. She blushed at the memory.

"Sam," Danny started, breaking her chain of thoughts, "Please don't let that kiss mean nothing. Please don't let it be fake."

She was almost shocked by the vulnerability in his voice, and as her eyes looked over his face she realized just how terrified he was. This was a big leap for them, one that had been a long time coming. She forced herself to maintain eye contact with him, lest the logical part of her brain try and override her heart, but it was hard. Every part of her mind screamed that this would ultimately ruin their friendship, that they were to young and foolish to make this work. That they were just imagining deeper feelings for each other because they were such close friends; it would destroy her if their friendship ended, she had come to rely on him for so much, as he did her. But she also could feel her heart aching at the thought of never knowing, and she fought back tears.

Danny bowed his head, taking her silence as rejection. He still held her hand gently, and leaned his forehead against the back of it, as if praying that she would forgive him, even though she knew that there was nothing to forgive.

"It wasn't fake," she whispered finally, before smiling at him the best she could with her stomach clenching nervously, his head shot up and he looked at her with hope etched in his eyes, "And it meant so much…" She couldn't continue, but she didn't have to, the smile that spread across his face told her that he understood. So instead of speaking, she leaned forward planting a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back and smiling in return.

Leaning over, he captured the girl in a hug, pulling her into his lap, and pressing his lips to hers; smiling into the kiss she snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She could feel one of his hands moving into her hair as the other came to rest on the top of one of her thighs, her own hands began to dance along the nape of his neck, causing him to shiver slightly.

"We have to stop," Sam murmured into his ear, having pulled away from the kiss with a giggle.

"Why?" he asked in a whisper, before softly kissing her neck.

Pulling back she looked him square in the eye as she spoke with mock annoyance, "Honestly, we're in a parking lot in broad daylight!" She motioned around them, even though it was around five o'clock it was still fairly bright, and he could see people pushing shopping carts towards their cars, including a wide eyed four year old who was staring at them and pointing.

"I guess I wasn't thinking when I pulled in here," he answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as Sam clambered into her seat.

"You were thinking," she said jokingly as she tapped her head with her forefinger, "Just not with your brain."

"I was thinking with my heart," he answered, completely serious as he pulled out of the parking spot and they continued their journey to Tucker's. Sam blushed and looked down at her lap as he continued, "You mean so much to me; you have no idea."

"I think that it's probably about as much as you mean to me," her face became a darker red as she spoke, she wasn't used to talking to her best friend about how she felt about him.

"I like the sound of that," he smiled.

"Good," she sounded very much like a small child at that moment, affirming a statement with her arms crossed over her chest, before her voice took on a much more mature tone, "Because you mean so much to me, and I want you to be happy. You've been through things that people twice your age could never imagine, let alone handle. I just want to be there for you."

"And you always are Sammy," his voice was soft and full of emotion, "I never would have made it through half of the shit that's happened to me, if it wasn't for you. You always believed in me, no matter what."

"You never would have had to go through any of it, if it hadn't been for me," she answered glumly as she remembered that it was in fact her fault that he entered the Fenton Portal to begin with.

Pulling into a parking spot in front of Tucker's house, he shut off the car and turned to her. "Don't you ever blame yourself for the accident in the lab," he said firmly, "You may have suggested it, but I'm the one who actually went into the portal. You didn't make me do it Sam, I chose to."

"I know," she conceded, averting her eyes for a moment, "But I still feel guilty sometimes."

"Don't," he told her, catching her jaw in his hand and pulling her into a fleeting kiss.

"I'll try," she nodded, before her voice to on a much more boisterous tone, "Now let's get in there, we're already pretty late. We were supposed to head over here right after graduation!"

"I guess you could say we got a little side tracked," he laughed, climbing out to the car and waiting for her to make it around to his side of the car.

"Just a little," she smiled sincerely as the leaned against him, his arm snaking around her waist.

Walking towards the door, the two had identical smiles on their faces. For the first time in a long time, the two were completely at ease with one another; the nervousness that had haunted them for years was gone, leaving the two in an easy calm. "So what exactly are we?" Danny asked as they climbed the front steps, "Dating and boyfriend/girlfriend sounds a little silly."

"We're best friends who just so happen to be in a relationship," she said logically, doing her best to keep a grin from her lips.

Danny laughed as he ringed the doorbell, "So if anyone asks, I'll tell them that you're my significant other."

"You make it seem like we're married," she said sarcastically, giving him a glare.

"Hey I gotta make sure that other guys know to keep their hands to themselves," he gave her a deviously charming grin as he tightened his grip on her waist.

"Honestly Danny," she swatted at his arm playfully, "You make it seem like someone is going to try and steal me away from you!"

"Well you are very attractive," he grinned pulling her towards him for a kiss.

But just as their lips were about to meet Tucker swung open the door. He shook his head at the position that he found his friends in and he grabbed them, pulling them forcibly into the house. People were all around the house, some giggled as Tucker drug his two friends through the house, and a few people muttered 'lovebirds' under their breath. But they were paid no mind, because for once, they were actually right.

ZZZ

A/N: Sorry this chapter was kind of short! The next one should be a lot longer… I hope. I decided that I like the idea of dragging out the complete clarification of their 'relationship' so it may take a while, but never fear, there will be plenty of fluff. I live for fluff. My own relationships are so dysfunctional that I have to include lots of fluff in my stories.

I'm going to try and keep up my pattern of Sunday (sometimes Monday)/Thursday updates. So if everything goes right, I should have another chapter up late Thursday night! Reviews do help! If I get a bunch, I may even update early! Ok, I'm done begging for reviews.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	5. Parties and Parting

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 5: Parties and Parting**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, don't own it.

This chapter is short and definitely not one of my bests. Please don't hate me for it, I've had an awful week and I'm so tired I might pass out.

ZZZ

Loud music was blasting, as people talked, laughed and ate. It was amazing just how many people had showed up at Tucker's party, nearly half of their graduating class was there. After Paulina had declared, loudly in the hall only days before that she would be going to Tucker's party in hopes of seeing the ghost boy, half of the A-list also decided to go. Sam giggled softly to herself as she looked around, though she knew that most of them would never admit it, they actually looked like they were having fun. The really amazing part was that they weren't bullying any of Tucker's geek friends from the Tech Club, but were instead talking to them.

She could faintly here Dash talking to the Tech Club's Vice President, a slender redhead with thick rimmed glasses and a dress that covered every inch of her body except for her face; he was asking her computer questions, much to Sam's surprise.

"I just can't get the damn thing to run right!" he growled in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air, "And I really don't understand the stuff that you're telling me to do, to fix it!"

"Well I could come over and fix it for you," she blushed prettily and tried to hide her face in her hair.

"I'd like that," Dash smiled, before a blush spread across his face, "I don't know why we never talked before, you're pretty cool."

"You shoved me in a locker once," she said quietly, her pale complexion becoming even redder.

"Oh man, Connie," he grimaced, "I'm really sorry. I always try not to rough up girls; I don't know why I did it…"

"It's ok," she smiled genuinely, placing a hand on the boys shoulder, "You're sorry for what you did, and I didn't get hurt so everything's good."

Sam turned away as their conversation continued; it was getting just a little to creepy for her taste. Instead she turned to where Paulina was talking with the short, nerdy boy who always carried her books for her. A little ways away, Kwan was talking to one of the girls from the chess team. 'This is getting weird,' she decided silently; any minute the body snatching alien would pop out from behind some piece of furniture and get her too. She shook her head, none of it made any sense, every where she looked there were people having a genuinely good time with other people that they had never talked to the entire four years that they were all in high school together. A laugh shook her from her senses as she looked up to see Tucker striding across the room with one arm looped around Valerie's waist, and the other around Star's.

'Ok, now I really know something's wrong."

"Are you people watching again Sam?" Danny asked with a laugh as he plopped down onto the couch next to her, handing her a soda.

"So what if I am?" she answered huffily, crossing her arms over her chest in mock agitation, "They're acting really weird."

Wrapping an arm her shoulders he pulled her closer to him, "Well this is the last time that most of use are going to see each other. Tomorrow morning Dash and Kwan leave for boot camp. Paulina's heading to Mexico tonight to live with her grandmother for a year. And there's only a few of us that'll be seeing each other after tonight."

"I guess that it does make sense that everyone just wants to spend on night together being friends before everyone goes their different ways," she sighed leaning her head on his shoulder, "But I still don't understand Valerie and Star walking around with Tucker."

"They lost a bet," Danny chuckled, "Tucker bet that we'd get together before we made it to the party, and they didn't believe him. Since they lost they get to be his dates for the night."

"I hate it that people made bets on us," she frowned.

"Well we did keep people guessing about us," he smiled, kissing her on her neck, causing her to squirm.

"Don't do that," she shivered, pulling her shoulders up and shaking her head slightly, "My neck is really ticklish!"

"Oh really," a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Don't you dare Daniel Fenton!" she pointed a stern finger at him, "Not while everyone's around, watching us." His grin widened, but he didn't his luck in front of a crowd. If there was one thing that he had learned, being best friends with Sam all these years, it was that she had no problem hitting him in public.

The party continued for a while longer before people began to leave, giving long goodbyes to everyone who remained. It was a strangely depressing end to an otherwise great party, to think that these people actually were going to miss each other was mind boggling, especially when half of them had always seemed to hate each other.

"You're not half bad Fenton," Dash smiled, as he patted Danny on the back, "And neither are you Manson."

Dash began to head for the door. "Hey what about me!" Tucker shouted.

"Your not bad either, Bad Luck Tuck," the jock said with a smile as he left.

"Hey!" the tech geek shouted, "I resent that!"

His friend laughed at his mock anger as Paulina approached them, looking almost nervous. She stopped right in front of them and looked up at them in silence; they stood there for what seemed like forever, when the Latino girl finally launched herself forward, grabbing Sam in a rough hug. "I'll miss you Creepy Goth Girl!"

"Okay," Sam choked out, patting the girl on the back.

Pulling back, Paulina smiled widely, "I'm really going to miss fighting with you. Our verbal battles have really improved my vocabulary. It's thanks to you that I got into the University of Mexico City." Hugging Sam again, she turned and skipped out of the room.

"That was weird," Sam whispered to Danny who had a confused look on his face.

"You're telling me," he replied.

Next Valerie and Star left; each giving Tucker a kiss on the cheek before heading out to where Valerie had parked her car.

"No," Danny corrected, "That was weird."

"That's got me nearly being mauled by a prep, beaten hands down," Sam agreed.

ZZZ

A/N: I am so sorry for this chapter, I really wanted to continue, but I am so tired that I'm about ready to just pass out. I haven't been sleeping well because I'm stressed about my Botany Lab, and if I don't get to sleep soon, I'll never wake up for my 9 o'clock class tomorrow, plus after that I get to drive for an hour and a half to get home. So you get a short, mildly crappy filler chapter, this Thursday so I don't get into a wreck heading home, and then I'll have a hopefully both better and longer chapter for you on Monday.

I apologize for this chapter once again.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	6. Planning

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 6: Planning**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom

This chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but I seriously can't stare at a computer screen any longer, I just got contacts this weekend and my eyes are still adjusting to going between contact lenses and glasses.

ZZZ

A few weeks had passed since Tucker's party and a very silent trio sat in one of the many waiting areas at Amity Park Municipal Airport. Tucker sat fiddling with his PDA as Sam leaned on Danny, her eyes closed. It was an uncomfortable silence, an uncommon occurrence among the three. They had known each other for a long time, and had nearly come to master nonverbal communications. A single look could alert the other two to a problem that the other one was facing; they had been relying on that skill quiet heavily since their freshman year.

But now, they were at a complete loss.

"I can't believe that you have to leave already Tuck," Danny said after a moment, as he caught one of Sam's fidgeting hands in his.

"Yeah," the tech geek sighed, "But they're going to give me a big ass scholarship if I come for the summer sessions and work as an intern with their integrated technologies program. This way my parents won't have to take out those loans."

"I know," Danny replied, giving his friend a slight smile, "It just sucks that we don't get to do all that stuff that we always planned on doing the summer after our senior year."

"Some of that stuff was really stupid though," Tucker laughed, remembering the list that they had made up when they were in junior high, "But you and Sam will still have fun without me, right?"

"It's not the same Tucker," Sam interjected, sitting up and giving the boy her best gothic glare.

"I know, but we're growing up," Tucker sighed, "We'll see each other sometimes." Then in his best effort to change the subject, "So when are you guys moving into your house in Spirit Haven?"

"We had talked about the week after next," Danny said, putting an arm around Sam's shoulder, "But we really haven't decided yet."

"It's been kind of hectic trying to coordinate plans without our parents finding out," Sam grimaced, "Jazz has saved our ass more times that I can count, and she's heading for Harvard at the end of next week. Something about a job offer."

"It makes sense for you guys to get out of there before the Jazz-shield is gone," Tucker grinned.

"That's what we thought," Danny yawned, "She's really helped us plan this out. She told us to make sure to get a phone with caller ID, and to get an answering machine with pre-programmed generic messages, so if our parents call the house that we won't accidentally let them know. Plus, she's going to keep tabs on mom and dad so that we have plenty of warning of any visits."

"What about your parents Sam?" Tucker asked, slipping his PDA into his carry on bag.

"My mom has a big thing about me being an independent adult now, and she's been going on about her and dad having to inform me in advance of any trips out to see me, so they don't 'conflict with prior arrangements'." Sam rolled her eyes as she spoke, "Its like they think that I'm going to Caldwell to find a husband."

Tucker was about to open his mouth in response when Danny shot him a warning glare, clearly stating that this was not an opening for a jab that he would be wise to take advantage of.

"Passengers on Flight 872, to the Virgin Islands please make your way to flight check in at this time. Thank you." The loud speaker droned, causing the previously smiling trio to take on somber looks.

The three stood and Tucker pulled his two best friends into a crushing hug, "I'm really going to miss you guys."

"Same here Tuck," Danny replied.

"It's going to be really weird without you," Sam smiled as best she could with tears pricking at her eyes. "You better remember to get me a University T-shirt," she waggled a finger at him, "And expect a box of Caldwell stuff from us."

Tucker nodded as he picked up his bag, glancing quickly at the gate he was supposed to be heading for, "Bye guys."

"Bye," the other two chorused softly, hugging him once more before he turned and began to make his way for the gate slowly.

The two continued to stand there staring at the gate long after their friend was on board, and even after their friend had left. It was as if a cloud of denial had settled over them; the entire world was forcing them to grow up, but as long as they could stand there, denying the inevitable, they could remain children and never have to worry about the outside world. They finally left around 9 at night, and only then because one of the airport workers had kicked them out. Slowly they made their way to Danny's car, silence surrounding them like a shroud.

"He was right," Sam said sorrowfully, her voice as watery as her violet eyes, "We are growing up."

"We have to start taking care of ourselves," Danny continued, "We won't have our parents around all the time as a safety net anymore."

"Well after all the ghost fighting and stuff, living on our own shouldn't be too bad," Sam said trying her best to look on the bright side, "We've survived a bunch of stuff that other people haven't; College shouldn't be the thing to kill us."

"You're right," Danny smiled, starting the car, "We can handle this, especially since we're not doing this alone."

"We have one another to count on," she gave him a slight grin as he pulled the car out of the parking lot, "And that's more than I could have ever dreamed of."

"Plus if stuff gets to hard, we can always call our parents, Jazz, or Tucker," he added, "Just because we're so far away doesn't mean that we still can't get some help with our problems if we really need it."

"Yep," she sighed, "But we still need to figure out when we're actually moving. We're both mostly packed, and it won't take much at all to ship all of our crap out there. We just have to decide when."

"How about we leave the same day as Jazz," Danny suggested as he turned a corner, "As you mentioned earlier, she has been covering our butts a lot. We'd surely be discovered if we stayed in Amity to long after she leaves."

"That's pretty quick," Sam reminded him, "We can pull it off, but are you sure that you want to leave your family that soon?"

"It is quick," Danny groaned, giving his eyes a rub to clear them, "And I don't really want to leave my family that soon, but I think we should. I don't even want to imagine the lectures that my parents will give the both of us if they find out that we're going to live together. You should have heard the one I got after dad caught us kissing the other night." He shivered slightly at the memory of the lecture.

"I'm glad I missed that one, but I do agree with you. The longer we're in Amity, the more likely someone is going to find out, and then all hell will break loose," she rubbed her face with the palms of her hands as she let free an exasperated groan, "So has Jazz managed to tell you parents about the baby yet?"

"No, not yet," he answered, his eyes never leaving the road, "She almost told them about her and Gary being engaged, but then dad saw this commercial for some soap opera where this girl tells her parents that she's getting married because she's pregnant and dad said that he's really glad that he doesn't have to deal with that for a long while."

"Oh poor Jazz," Sam groaned, leaning her head back, "She must have been really upset."

"Yeah," he replied, "And it was the weirdest thing. She walked to her room really calmly, I followed her to make sure she was ok, and she made it all the way to her room before she started crying. I had to sit with her for an hour before she decided to call Gary, and after she talked to him she was all smiling and happy again."

"So she's handling everything pretty well?" Sam asked, reaching over and placing a hand on his leg.

He tensed slightly at the contact before he replied, "It sure seems like it, unless she's secretly depressed or something."

"Well she's certainly handling it a lot better than I would," she stated, shrugging her shoulders, "I'd be a complete mess if I were in her shoes."

Danny shot a glance at her, not completely comfortable with where this conversation was heading. The whole idea of Sam being pregnant made him very nervous, and they hadn't even done anything that serious yet. This was just not a conversation that he wanted to be having with her anytime in the near future.

"So we're moving next Friday?" he asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

"It seems like it," she said with a smile.

Danny stopped the car in front of her house, "I guess we'll finish planning all this stuff tomorrow."

"Yep," she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she got out of the car, and headed up towards her house. Putting one hand on the cheek that she had kissed, he pulled his car away from the curb and began to head towards his house, a smile spreading slowly across his lips.

ZZZ

A/N: This chapter is a little better than the last one, but not much. I feel really bad for giving y'all chapters like this, but it is moving the story along towards where I need it for the really action to start picking up. I hope that you like it.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	7. Packing Chaos

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 7: Packing Chaos**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, though I sure would like to.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! This is my Valentines present to all my lovely reviewers. I hope y'all have a good day, or at least a better one than I normally do. I normally have a terrible Valentines Day thanks to my 'wonderfully' dysfunctional relationship.

On with the story….

ZZZ

Violet eyes surveyed the room with disdain, it was more of a mess than she had ever seen, and that was saying something. At least a foot of junk covered the entirety of the carpet and a mound of clothes was heaped onto the bed; in the corner of the room, she could see a pile of collapsed boxes that they had picked up almost a week ago at the shipping store.

Turning on the boy next to her she put both her hands on her hips, "When you said that you had begun packing, I didn't know that you meant that you brought the boxes upstairs instead of leaving them laying in the middle of the living room."

"Well I did sort through most of my stuff," he answered sheepishly.

"What a sorting system," she said sarcastically, "Clothes on the bed, everything else on the floor."

"Hey not everyone can be as organized as you," he answered, in mock irritation, "And besides I sorted through everything and threw out all the gross stuff so you don't have to worry about finding anything nasty under all this stuff."

Sam began to pick her way delicately across the room, working one foot at a time through the mess until she reached carpet then taking another step; Danny followed her through the mess, though not quiet as gracefully. Grabbing a collapsed box and some packing tape, she passed it to him as she began to survey the room. Taking the hint he un-collapsed the box and taped the bottom closed, holding the now constructed box in front of him.

"Let's start with the stuff that you're not likely to use in the next week," she said after a moment of thinking, "We'll leave clothes and ghost gear till last because most of that will fit in the car." She paused, "Speaking of which, I need to know if we're driving to Spirit Haven together. I can get the movers to transport one of our cars in the van with all of our stuff."

"They can do that?" Danny asked as he began to sort through the mess at their feet and pile stuff into the box he was holding.

"Yeah," she answered, picking up some things to add to the box in Danny's arms, "I organized the shipping of our stuff, and they asked me if I needed a car shipped as well because they were picking stuff up from two addresses. I told them maybe, but that I needed to talk to you first."

"Sounds like a good plan," he said, the box in his arms now full, "So which car are we shipping?"

"Well yours is bigger but mine get better gas mileage," she replied, picking up another box and taping up the bottom.

"We should probably take yours," Danny answered, kicking some stuff to the side so he could sit down his box, "My parents at least know that we're both going to Caldwell, but if your parents saw us both leaving in my car they may get just a bit suspicious."

"Alright," she said, "My car it is. I have to remember to call the movers tonight and tell them, so they bring the right truck."

A silence descended upon them as they worked their way slowly across the room, filling box after box with Danny's stuff. He was bringing most of the contents of his room, as was Sam; it seemed like the logical thing to do, seeing as the only time that he would probably see his family would be over extended breaks.

Only a box or two worth of stuff remained as Sam stretched tiredly. Glancing at her watch, she swore in amazement, "Damn, we've been at this for five hours!"

"Time flies when you're having fun," Danny yawned.

"Very funny," she groused, punching him softly on the arm, "All that's left is the stuff here on the floor, the clothes on your bed and the stuff sitting on your desk and dresser. We can wait to dismantle your bed until the morning that the movers are going to pick up your stuff."

"Alright," he yawned again, this time much louder.

Sam chuckled, and was about to reply when a knock on the door drew both of their attention.

"Yeah?" Danny called.

The door swung open slowly, revealing a pale faced Jazz; her eyes were puffy from crying and her hands shook while holding the knob, "Sam can I talk to you?" Her voice was the barest whisper and the gothic teen was at her side in a flash.

"What's wrong Jazz?" she questioned, patting the girl on the back softly, unsure what she should do. The older girl didn't answer; she simply grabbed Sam in a tight hug and began to ball inconsolably into her shoulder. Violet eyes widened in shock as Sam returned the hug the best she could. She had never seen Danny's sister like this, and from the look on Danny's face, which she could barely see through Jazz's red hair, neither had he.

Jazz pulled back slightly, and Sam began to guide her towards her room, "Let's go talk." Jazz simply nodded and allowed the girl to lead her away. Letting the door to Jazz's room close behind them with a snap, Sam helped Jazz sit down on the edge of the bed. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"I really don't know," Jazz whimpered, her head hung so low that her chin was resting on her chest. "I started getting some mild morning sickness this morning and now I'm all waterworks. I needed to talk to another girl, Gary's great and all but he just doesn't understand…"

"Well Jazz I don't know how much help I'll be," Sam admitted plainly as she placed a soothing hand on the girls shoulder, "I've never went through any of this."

"I know," she sniffled, leaning her head on Sam's shoulder, "It's just that I can't talk to mom, and you're the only other girl who knows. I've always seen you as a kind of little sister; I just needed someone to listen."

"Well I'm all ears," Sam said as calmly as she could, though tears had begun to spring to her eyes at the thought of Jazz seeing her like a sister, "So tell me what's on your mind."

After what seemed like forever, Jazz spoke, "I don't think that I'm going to be a very good mother."

Sam was taken aback, "What makes you say that Jazz?"

"I'm always so analytical about everything. I let logic dictate my life! I just don't see how I can be a caring mother when I get so critical about everything!" the girl was crying quiet loudly now, and Sam wrapped her arms around her.

"Let me ask you something?" Sam's voice was quiet, "Does how you feel about Gary make sense?" Jazz shook her head no, "Does how you care about your family, or anything to do with you family for that matter, make sense?" Once again Jazz shook her head no. "Then where's the problem? You live in a crazy illogical world everyday, you act like a mother to Danny already, why would your own kid be any different?"

"I don't know," Jazz whimpered, her face buried in Sam's shoulder, "I just feel like I'm going to mess up somehow."

"You're not going to mess up," Sam comforted, her head coming to rest atop Jazz's, "I have never know you to mess up anything in the entire time that I've known you, and your not going to start now."

"Thanks Sam," Jazz murmured, moving away slowly and wiping her eyes on her sleeve, "I really needed that."

"Anytime," Sam smiled broadly, as she stood to leave, "But I better get back to helping your brother before he finds someway to get himself in trouble."

Jazz chuckled, "I don't think that my brother would have survived this long without you Sam."

Smiling to herself, Sam left the room, and began to head down the hallway, when suddenly a loud crash shook the house and a horribly familiar shout of "Beware!" could be heard coming from Danny's room. With a groan she ran the last several feet to Danny's room and swung open the door. Within the room, boxes lay turned on their sides, some with their contents spilling out and others completely empty. Above the mess, a very agitated halfa was chasing after the box ghost who was flying just out of his reach, a small box clutched in his hands.

"Give that back, damn it!" Danny growled as he tried to fly faster after the ghost.

"Never!" the box ghost crowed in delight as he too sped up, "My employer is paying me handsomely for this little trinket."

"I said give it back!" Danny shouted, doing his best to contain the ghostly wail that he felt building in his throat.

Sneaking over to the bed, Sam crouched down and reached under, her hands closing around the cool metal of the Jack-a-nine-tails; pulling herself to her feet she aimed for her target. With a practiced flip of her wrist the nine metallic cords that shot out of the end of the device closed around the box ghost, jerking him backwards and causing him to drop the small box he was carrying. Danny shot forward and caught the box before it hit the ground, and then moved to where Sam was restraining the ghost.

"Nice timing," he said as he rummaged under his bed for a Fenton Thermos.

"It comes from years of being a sidekick," she joked, jerking on the Jack-o-nine-tails to stop the box ghost's struggling.

"Well you're good at your job," he said with a triumphant grin as he emerged from under his bed, clenching the Fenton Thermos. Turning towards the box ghost, he activated the thermos and sucked the specter in, before capping it and dropping it on his bed.

"Well thank you," she said slyly as she dropped the, now retracted, Jack-o-nine-tails on the bed beside the thermos. Leaning towards the boy she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and then pulled back, her face suddenly becoming all business, "You realize that once we get to Spirit Haven, we can't necessarily use the Fenton Thermos on any nasty ghosts we may come across. There's no way to release them into the ghost zone."

"Well just have to use the Fenton Porta-Portal," he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The Porta Portal is not the easiest thing to hide Danny," she said, looking at the boy like he had lost his mind.

"Well the new smaller one that my mom developed is," he was grinning like a fool at this point, "You remember the Fenton Lip Gloss right?"

"Yeah, Tucker had a lot of fun with that until someone saw him with it and started that rumor that he was gay," Sam laughed at the memory.

"Well mom modified it so that it shoots the Porta-Portal goop instead of a laser."

"Are you sure that it works?" she asked, her mind going over the long list of things that the Fenton's had made that didn't work.

"Come on Sammy," he said with a wily grin, "I did say my 'mom' made it."

"Right," Sam laughed, "I forgot, she can make one hell of a weapon, but can't cook something that won't try to eat whose eating it. She does make good cookies though."

"So what did Jazz want?" Danny asked, finally sitting the small box that the box ghost had been after on his dresser.

"She was having mood swings," Sam sighed, climbing up onto the mountain of clothes on Danny's bed, "And she started getting morning sickness this morning."

"Poor Jazz," Danny replied climbing up onto the bed after Sam.

"Yeah," Sam murmured, "She was also freaking out because she didn't think she is going to be a good mother. I got her settled down though, she just needed a girl to talk to and me being the only one who knows about it was the logical choice."

Pulling the girl into his lap, Danny buried his face into her hair, "I think that she would have wanted to talk to you anyway, even if everyone else knew. You may not realize it, but you're pretty good at comforting people; for a goth, you sure are attuned to others emotions."

"Shut up," she blushed heavily, letting her arms rest on Danny's, which had snaked their way around her waist.

"I'm serious," he murmured, kissing her softly on the neck, causing her to shiver, "You always know what to say when something's really bothering me. It's almost like you can read my mind."

"Your eyes give you away," she answered as she leaned back into his chest, "I can always see how you feel just by looking in your eyes."

"So I'm really that obvious?" he asked with a smile.

"Absolutely."

ZZZ

A/N: This chapter is longer than the last two and is the beginning of my major story line. In the next chapter we will find out what's in the little box that Danny was so desperate to get back from the box ghost. I hope that you're enjoying this and the next chapter should be out on Thursday.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	8. The Little Box

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 8: The Little Box**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

I finally enabled the Anonymous Reviews; I didn't realize that it was disabled until I got an email from my little sister telling me so. So I got that fixed.

This chapter may be a little confusing, and I apologize for that, I was trying to convey a lot of info about the thing in the box. It's not going to play to big of a role right now, but it will be showing up again later.

Now on with the story….

ZZZ

Silence was becoming a norm for the young pair who reclined on Danny's bed. It was comforting to simply be able to enjoy the quiet, which had become so rare since Freshman year. Danny's arms flexed around Sam's waist and he shifted his head slightly, which was still buried in the crook of her neck. A smile played over Danny's lips as Sam leaned back against him a little more. It still amazed him how easily they had transferred from being best friends to being, well, more than friends, and in a way it kind of worried him.

It had been just too easy.

"Sam do you think that all this has been just a little too easy?" he asked softly, before placing a kiss gently on the spot where neck became shoulder, causing the girl to shiver slightly.

"What's been easy?" she questioned back, having a hard time coming up with something in their lives that could classify as easy.

"Us," he said his voice slightly unsure. He could feel that another of those uncomfortable conversations was on its way, the kind that left him stuttering and sounding like a complete idiot. He really didn't like this kind of conversation, but he knew that it needed to be said now while he still had the guts to do it, "I mean getting together, and then going to Caldwell, and all that stuff. It just seems too easy."

"It's karma Danny," she answered, turning her face so she could plant a kiss on his cheek, "How long have we spent running around, trying to deal with ghosts and everything else? Then it was you who defeated Pariah Dark, which in turn sparked the war in the ghost zone that is allowing you to get away from Amity for a while. You've earned this, and besides, nobody can have bad karma all the time."

Danny sighed, she had skirted around the main question that he had been trying to ask. They had played this game of keep away from any talk of relationships for so long that it had almost seemed to become habit, "But what about us, Sam?"

The girl blushed slightly, as she bowed her head slightly, trying to hide her reddening cheeks with her hair, "Well if you think about it, we kind of got past all the major early relationship problems while we were just friends. But it's not always going to be easy; anything worth having is worth working for. I'm sure we'll have problems at some point or another, but what couple doesn't?"

"I guess your right," he sighed, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder, "I'm just so used to everything being so difficult that it worries me when anything seems easy."

She chuckled, "It's just a side effect of that hero complex of yours."

He shot her a look of mock hurt, "I do not have a hero complex!"

"Yes you do!" she replied turning to face him, her hands coming to rest on her hips, "I have never seen anyone so focused on saving absolutely everyone around them."

"It's my job," he said straight faced, having fun with their playful argument. Tucker had always made fun of their play fights, but it was always a clear sign that everything was alright between the two of them. It's when the arguments became serious that you had to worry.

"Like that just didn't sound like a typical hero excuse," she smiled slightly at him, "Honestly, I was there when you went through the Fenton Ghost Catcher. I saw first hand just how much of your personality is hero. Without you hero side, your other half was kind of dull, and lacking a personality."

"Alright, I guess I'll admit that I take my job a little seriously," he answered with a sheepish grin, remembering just how much of a hero his ghost side had been when he had split himself in half.

Sam smiled at his sheepish look, their little mock arguments were always fun, so long as they didn't get out of hand. "Hey Danny," Sam said just remembering something. "What was in that box that the box ghost was after anyway?"

His grin disappeared and his face became slightly pale. "Danny what's wrong?" she asked, looking at his face slightly frightened. The change in his features had been an instantaneous drop from happy and playful, to looking as though he was clinically depressed.

"I… its just… something really personal," he stuttered, his eye taking on an almost glassy look, as though he was only seconds away from tears.

"Oh," she replied, slightly hurt by his answer, "I was just wondering… you don't have to tell me…"

"It's not that Sam," he answered quietly, his eyes hidden from view by his messy raven locks, "It just reminds me of a really bad memory."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, placing a hand on his cheek, and kissing him softly on the forehead, "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No it's alright," he forced a smile, "It something that I got from Grandma Fenton right before she passed away, when I was like 8."

"You two were really close, huh?" she asked, her voice sounding almost timid as the question slipped from her lips.

"Yeah we were," a faint smile spread across his face, "She's actually the root of my family's ghost hunting obsession. She believed in all the ancient rituals and stuff used to banish restless spirits and the like, her real name was Sara but she told everyone to call her Gypsy, she thought it sounded more mystic or something like that." He chuckled slightly as he remembered some of the woman's most outlandish idiosyncrasies, "She was really good at what she did; dad told me that she preformed something like two thousand exorcisms, all of which were successful. And it wasn't the bullshit type of exorcisms either were somebody just makes up a fake Latin prayer and declares the place cleansed. She was the real deal."

"Then why does your dad hunt ghosts with technology, if his mom was so good at doing it with rituals." she asked, leaning back against his chest and looking up at him over her shoulder, "Why didn't he just learn how to do it her way?"

Moving away from her slightly he crawled across the bed and stretched an arm out towards her dresser. Grabbing the small box he then moved back towards Sam, "The type of rituals that my Grandmother used could only be done by women, or at least that's what she always told my dad." Opening the small cardboard box, he pulled out a slightly smaller and very old looking, black velvet jewelry case. "In here is the pendant that she always used for the exorcisms, it was supposed to be passed to Jazz, the next girl in the Fenton line, but she told me that she thought that I would need it more." Opening the box he pulled out a very long silver chain with a sizable chunk of uncut and unpolished emerald hanging from it. "I don't see how much good it's going to do me though, other than serving as a reminder of her."

"She sounds like an amazing woman," Sam smiled, her eyes briefly dancing over the pendant before locking with his.

"She was," he smiled, "And she was a little crazy too. When she was first getting sick she would say a bunch of weird things to me and Jazz when our parents weren't around."

"Like what?" Sam asked, becoming honestly curious about this woman that she had never met.

"She'd always tell Jazz just how wonderful a mother that she was going to be one day, and that she must learn how to open her mind to things outside of what she could learn from books. It was kind of funny that she'd say that because back then Jazz hated to read," he took the large green stone in his hand and held it tightly as she continued, "And she'd tell me to never be afraid to fight for what's right and that being a hero isn't all glory and praise, that it's hard work too." His eyes took on a far off look as if he was remembering something that had been shoved far off into the back corners of his mind, "And as she died, she pressed her pendant into my hand telling me to hold onto it because one day I would need it. Right before she closed her eyes for the last time she looked at me and smiled, saying that her only regret was that she'd never live to see her 'heliotrope eyed great-grand babies'."

He laughed sadly, "It's kind of sad, I don't even know what heliotrope means, but I know that's what she said to me."

Sam wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her nose against his neck, tears beginning to stream slowly down her cheeks, "It means purple."

"What?" he asked, startled slightly by the melancholy sound of her voice.

"Heliotrope means purple," she clarified, nuzzling against him again. Another bout of silence reigned through the room as the two sat cuddled up against one another, gaining control of their emotions.

"How about we fix what the box ghost messed up and we call it a day?" Danny asked, a semblance of normalcy returning to his voice as he placed the pendant back in the jewelry case. Then placed the case back into the cardboard box and closing the lid. Sam nodded and the two climbed off the bed, getting back to work.

ZZZ

Her room was dark and most of her possessions were packed away in boxes that sat all around the room in stacks. It gave her room a very lonely feeling, and she almost wished that she hadn't begun packing up her things so soon. Her room looked so foreign to her now, and considering that this was a place that she had spent nearly her entire life in, she found its lack of familiarity vaguely disturbing.

Glancing at her clock, a throaty sigh escaped her slightly parted lips.

She had planned on going to bed early that night, but her mind had different ideas. Lying awake in bed for what seemed like hours, her eyes were locked on the ceiling, as her mind ran over the afternoon that she had spent with Danny. She honestly hadn't been very surprised that he didn't have anything packed, it was to be expected. He had a tendency of putting things of until the last second, a habit that she supposed he had picked up from being constantly forced to put things off because of ghost attacks. Then Jazz had come in all worked up; it still touched her that the older girl viewed her as a sister, and it made her even more determined to be there for Jazz as much as possible.

And finally there was the fight with the box ghost and her heart to heart with Danny about his grandmother. She had never really known much about his family past its immediate members, but she had really never needed to know. But as she ran through the conversation, she realized what it was that had been keeping her awake.

Jumping out of bed she headed to her computer and got on the internet, pulling up a search engine and typed in the word 'Exorcism' in the blank provided. It found twelve thousand hits, most of which were movie reviews and advertisements for books.

"Ok, that didn't work," she said to her self, clicking the pointer in the search blank and trying to come up with a better search. 'Exorcism Pendants' she typed in after a moments thought and two pages worth of results popped up. The first page was just websites selling different types of paranormal tools and the like, but at the bottom of the second page of results she found a site entitled, 'Medieval Exorcism Pendants'. Clicking on the link she found a site plastered with pictures, most of which appeared to be scan's of old vellum texts. Dozens of different pendants were shown on the page, but none were quiet like the on that Danny's grandmother had given him.

Towards the bottom of the page however, she found an image of a woman holding up a pendant that appeared to be sucking a ghost into it. Leaning closer to the screen for a better look, she could clearly see that the pendant that the woman was holding was exactly like the one that Danny had shown her that afternoon. Clicking on the picture she pulled up a screen of information on the pendant, smiling at her luck, she began to read.

_The Bloigh Crð Croi is an ancient pendant said to possess the power to permanently banish a ghost to the afterlife. According to folklore, only 5 were created. The emerald that is hung on the silver chain is a portion of an emerald that was once in the possession of a powerful Celtic Warlord know as the Pariah of Darkness, and upon his death the emerald was split into 5 pieces and hung from 5 separate chains. The Pendants were then taken and hidden, each in a different location. The power of this emerald was so feared that only the monk who hid the pendants knew their location, and after they were hidden, he cut out his own tongue to prevent himself from ever disclosing their location._

_Only 1 of the fabled 5 pendants has ever been known to be recovered, though it has been rumored that at least two others have been found, as is indicated in the journals of two more notable female exorcists. It was discovered by a poor farm woman in Romania and it remained in her family for several generations before her last surviving descendant sold it to the museum of Denver in Colorado._

_From what has been gathered from the scrolls written by the monk who hid the pendants, and from the Journals of the Pariah himself, there is much speculation and myth surrounding the original emerald, and the pendants themselves. According to Pariah, the original emerald was actually the crystallize heart of a being who could pass from the mortal realm to the spirit realm at will; and when the emerald was still whole, it had the power to grant passage to whoever wielded it. But he also said, that should it ever be split, it would serve as a one way passage for restless spirits._

_Now the mythology of the emerald is very sketchy, as there are dozens of different accounts of its powers, but all seem to agree that should the emerald be spilt, its power would become limited to only female users. And once a specific woman came to possess the pendant, only her female descendants could wield it as she had. It is also said that it would protect unborn offspring of a family line, regardless of the child's gender, from spirits that sought to destroy the pendants wielder. This protection, however, is believed to only last until the child is born, from that point it will only continue to protect the child if it is female, as she would logically become the pendants next wielder. In cases where no female descendants are born for several generations, it may be passed from father to son in a dormant state. However, once the pendant is possessed by a male of the family line, it may only be passed onto his daughter or son, as the case may be. This is why it was believed that the wielder of the pendant would wait until they were on their death bed to ensure that the next direct female descendant would receive it, whether it be daughter, granddaughter, or great-granddaughter._

_There has been a case, as reported in one of the female exorcist's, who was rumored to have one of the pendants, journals which dates back to the 1600's, that the she passed the pendant onto her youngest son, instead of one of his two older sisters, because the pendant granted her a vision that it would be needed by his daughter in the future. This is where many records of the emerald's and the pendant's powers differ, some reading states that only the emerald has the ability to show its user the future, while others argue that it is the pendants that have that power, while still more argue that neither has such an ability._

_Claims have also been found in the monk's journal, that if the emerald is ever put back together it would grant whoever had it, absolute power of both the realm of the living, and that of the dead._

_Not much can be confirmed in regards to the Bloigh Crð Croi, as there has been no obvious demonstrations of its power in more recent times in which it could be proved or disproved through scientific testing. It can't even be proven that there are in fact 5 of these pendants, or if they stones they possess are all from the same original stone. The only possible validation of these claims is the increasing reports of 'ghost' sightings in Denver since one of the fabled 5 pendants was sold to the museum about ten years ago._

Sam rubbed her tired violet eyes as she finished reading, flipping on her printer, she printed off the information that she had just read. She knew that Danny would want to see this; something like this would definitely interest him.

Yawning she looked at her clock, the harsh red letter stared back at her. "God 2 in the morning!" she groaned as she moved to her bed and threw herself down on it heavily, this time sleep didn't evade her and, she was asleep in an instant.

ZZZ

A/N: Well I believe that I have thoroughly succeeded in butchering my family's ancestral language. The Pendant's name actually means something, which is a first for me. I'm not a hundred percent positive on the words, but I was working off and online dictionary so I hope that they're right. If anyone can guess the language and the dialect, I'll give them a shout out in the next chapter, and if anyone can translate the pendant's name you get brownie points and a whole chapter dedicated to you. If more than one person gets it right I will do multiple dedicated chapters. If no one has figured it out by the time I post the next chapter I'll give you a hint. If you still don't get it by the following chapter, I'll just give it to you. Also there's a bit of a clue in the stuff that Sam read, if you really read it close!

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	9. Legends and Hidden Meanings

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 9: Legends and Hidden Meanings**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

No one had guessed the pendants exact name but, **Chitsuki Masuki**, **Dark Dragon Queen**, and **Gecko Osco** guessed that it was Irish Gaelic, and **Gecko Osco **got closest with her guess of "Fragments of the Death Heart".

So here's your hint:_ Crð _means blood, and _Croi _means heart. (It was pointed out to me that some Gaelic words have multiple meanings and these ones were already guessed in reviews so I figured that I'd give them to you.) So here's the real hint, Gecko Osco guessed that _Bloigh _means fragment, which is close. Just think 'Halfa' and I'll think that you'll get the meaning of it that I used.

Whoever guesses it will get the next chapter dedicated to them. If more than one person gets it, I'll do multiple dedicated chapters.

Now on with the story…

ZZZ

The sun was peaking over the horizon, sending rich pinks and gold's spreading across the sky, giving the early morning a fresh warmth that had a young girl sighing in happiness. She was by no means a morning person, but the beauty of it gave her a sense of contentment that was hard to come by living in a city like Amity; the only other time that she felt this much at peace was when she was with her halfa.

The very thought brought a smile to her face, being with Danny had always made her feel safe and happy.

Walking briskly along the sidewalk, she looked around at the houses and streets that she had come to know so well over the years. It was so strange to think that in a few days she would be leaving it, even though she knew that she would be back eventually. Reaching the corner she turned, catching sight of Fenton Works at the end of the street; she knew that Danny's parents and Jazz would already be awake and hard at work, so she wasn't too worried about waking up Danny's family.

Danny, however, was another story.

He would most likely still be asleep, but what she had found was worth waking him up before his normal summertime waking hour of ten. Reaching into her pocket, she closed her hands around the folded up paper she had put there that morning. The information that she had found on the Bloigh Crð Croi was something that he needed to see. But that was in truth, only part of the reason that she was going to see him that morning.

She had always prided herself in being an independent female, who though was occasionally saved by the town's resident super hero, could take care of herself. She had always hated being a 'damsel in distress', and had hated even more the fact that ghosts seemed to put her in that position, but now she found herself faced with a problem that seemed to be completely out of her hands. Shaking her head she sighed, it seemed like whenever something got too much for her to handle she went to Danny for help. And now was no exception.

Groaning, she cast her eyes skyward. She supposed that she had brought this morning's confusion on herself; she had been so intent on learning about the pendant and so excited by what she found, that her mind had been full of nothing but it as she went to sleep. 'That's what created that damn dream,' she decided, clenching her fists determinedly at her sides, trying to convince her mind of the correctness of her logical conclusion, 'I just got myself all worked up about it and my mind created an outlet for all of it.'

Yet no matter how much she argued with herself, she couldn't shake how real the dream had felt.

_Looking around at the strange room that surrounded her, she peaked nervously at all the herbs that hung from the ceiling, and the crystals that sat on a few low tables. She had never seen any of these things before, but she instantly knew what they were. They were the tools of a practicing exorcist, she had read enough about things like these when she had went through her supernatural phase to know that they could do amazing things in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing._

"_Who are you?" a voice came from behind her. She spun around quickly and came face to face with a petite elderly woman. The woman was stooped with age and had beautiful salt and pepper gray hair that cascaded down her back in loose waves. Her eyes were a sharp intelligent blue that looked over the girl appraisingly. "Never mind," the woman said after a moment, turning to inspect one of the bundles of herbs, "I know who you are."_

"_But who are you?" Sam asked, stepping forward._

"_Call me Gypsy," the woman smiled, grabbing bits and pieces of several herbs and dropping them into a tea cup, before picking up a kettle that was sitting on a portable heater, and pouring hot water into the cup._

"_You're Danny's grandmother!" she said in shock, one hand pointing at the woman in surprise._

"_It's not polite to point Samantha," the woman said, giving her a reproving glare._

"_I'm sorry," she answered automatically lowering her hand, her mind still trying to process what was happening around her._

"_It's alright dear," the woman smiled, taking a seat and motioning for her to do the same, "Politeness is overrated and should be reserved for when in the company of those you dislike. Now us, we're virtually family, so politeness is not necessary."_

"_Family?" Sam asked, her mind proving too fuzzy to process much._

"_Yes dear, but that is not the reason that you are here," the woman took a sip of her tea and grimaced at it before continuing, "There is something important that you must know in order for events to fall out as they have been intended." One of her withered hands ventured to a wide velvet ribbon around the woman's neck, which supported a familiar charm bearing the letters 'CW'._

"_Clockwork's involved in all this!" Sam exclaimed, becoming even more confused than she was before._

"_Well he is Danny's guardian of sorts," the woman replied dismissively, "And he has recruited me to give you some information to make sure that the future progresses properly."_

"_This is ridiculous!" the girl mumbled, "If Clockwork had something to tell Danny, then he would just tell him to his face instead of playing all these games."_

_Gypsy narrowed her eyes at Sam, "Clockwork has wisely decided to leave the affairs of women up to women. What has to be said can be told to you only, as it relies mainly upon you and your decisions." She took a deep breath, "There is a ghost that seeks to control both the human world and the ghost zone, and the only way he can do this is by reassembling the emerald that the Bloigh Crð Croi's were made from. Now currently he is trying to acquire one of the pendants, and he knows that Danny has another one, but he also knows that he can't defeat Danny. So he is looking for a loop hole."_

"_And he's going to try and use me to get it," Sam sighed, "I really hate the whole Damsel in Distress thing."_

"_I know," the woman smiled, reaching out and placing a hand on the girl's knee, "But with the help of Clockwork, he has been slightly side tracked. He broke into Clockwork's domain where, a time strain was accidentally left running, depicting a time five years in the future where a certain Fenton is becoming a father."_

"_So it shows Danny becoming a dad?" Sam asked, her stomach clenching in dread._

"_Yes," the woman smiled, "It shows you having a particularly easy labor with a beautiful baby girl."_

"_Me!" the girl squeaked slightly._

"_Yes you," the woman chuckled, "I did say that we were practically family! But that isn't the point, Clockwork knew that this ghost was coming, so he left the birth of you second child running so as to throw him off track."_

"_Second child!" Sam nearly shouted in alarm, as she jumped to her feet, hands clenched over her stomach._

"_Yes, now sit down and let me finish," Gypsy said sternly, "Clockwork did this to give the ghost the impression that he had more time than he does before this specific pendant's powers become activated. It will in turn cause him to concentrate less on the pendant that Danny has, and more on the others, giving you two a better chance at defeating him."_

"_So we need to keep him from getting the pendants?" Sam asked, fidgeting slightly in her seat._

"_Not exactly," Gypsy smiled mischievously._

"_Then what?" Sam asked, getting more and more nervous as every second passed._

"_It's quiet simple really," the woman's smile was now more like the sneaky grin that Danny wore when he thought up a particularly funny prank._

"_I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Sam covered her face in her hands, her heart catching in her throat as she began to get a feeling about what would come out of the woman's mouth next._

"_Honestly motherhood isn't as bad as most people make it out to be," Gypsy said innocently, confirming Sam's suspicions._

"_So your asking me to get pregnant!" Sam shouted, once again jumping to her feet, her amethyst eyes wide with shock._

"_No, no," the woman said, chuckling as if she had said something funny, "I already know that you're going to get pregnant, I'm only asking that when you do, you make sure to tell everyone promptly, so the word gets spread to the appropriate people. Once that ghost finds out, he'll attack and the pendant will destroy him, it's that simple."_

_Sam dropped heavily into her seat, "If I've learned one thing, it's that nothing is ever that simple."_

"_You're right," Gypsy sighed, "It isn't that simple. But I can't give you anymore details, or the time stream will be too tainted for the future to turn out correctly."_

"_But what you're saying is that if I do what you tell me, stuff will turn out alright?" Sam asked her face nearly touching her knees as she spoke._

"_There is always the possibility that something bad may happen," the old woman replied sadly, "But if you do what I say, it gives the best chance for things to turn out alright."_

_Slowly Sam sat up, her hands covering her face; rubbing her eyes, she pulled her hands away, revealing two amethyst eyes shining with tears, "How bad?"_

"_I can't tell you that," the woman murmured, "But I wish I could. And you mustn't tell Danny what I've told you. It would…"_

"_Mess up the time stream," Sam finished, "I know."_

She had been so engrossed in remembering her dream that she didn't even realize the she had long ago reached Fenton Works. Shaking her head to dispel the last remnants of her dream, she knocked on the door, a few moments later Jazz opened the door and ushered her in.

"Would you like some tea Sam?" she called as she disappeared back into the kitchen.

"I guess," Sam replied, following the girl into the now completely spotless kitchen.

Jazz pulled out two mugs and set about making their tea, "This morning I woke up and had such an urge to clean. I knew that the kitchen needed it pretty bad so I started here, all food that tried to attack when I opened the Tupperware got thrown out, container and all. And I succeeded in removing all cooking utensils that have the word 'Fenton' on them." The girl chuckled to herself as she headed back to the table with the two cups, "We may actually be able to cook food now that doesn't try to eat us first."

"That would be nice," Sam smiled, taking a sip of her tea, "I just hope that you didn't over do it."

"Nah," Jazz waved a dismissive hand at her, "I'm pacing myself. I decided that I'll only tackle one room at a time when I get the urge to clean."

"I'm glad," she replied, "You don't need to push yourself."

"I know," Jazz giggled, "With you, Danny, and Gary constantly reminding me I don't think that I have to worry about overdoing anything."

"We're just looking out for you because we care," Sam replied seriously.

"Thanks," Jazz replied, sniffling to hold back tears.

"Hey Jazz," Sam said hoping to change the subject before she had an overly emotional and hormonal Jazz on her hands, "Do you have any pictures of your Grandmother Fenton? Danny told me some about her yesterday and I was kind of curious about what she looked like."

"I think there are some in the family scrap book," Jazz said standing up and heading to the living room with Sam close behind her. Picking up a book that was sitting on a low shelf she plopped down on the couch and began to page through it. Sam sat down beside her, hope bubbling up in her stomach that Jazz would show her a picture that looked nothing like the woman from her dream. "Here they are!" Jazz said triumphantly pointing a finger at the page excitedly, "These ones were taken at her house 6 months before she first got sick."

Taking a deep breath, Sam looked down at the page, to not only be confronted with the face of the woman from her dreams, but also all the pictures were taken in the room from her dream as well. 'Maybe I've seen these pictures before,' she reasoned to herself, 'My mind could have remembered them and that's why I saw her and that room in my dream.'

Sam smiled at the plausible explanation, but it was immediately shot down my Jazz, "Mom just found this old scrapbook early this morning. It's been under their bed for years! I actually think that this is the first time I've looked through it." She began to shuffle through the other pages, but she caught the look on Sam's face out of the corner of her eye.

"What is it?" Jazz asked, closing the book and sitting it aside.

"It's nothing," Sam replied, trying to force a smile onto her face.

"I know you better than that," Jazz scolded, "Now what is it."

"I had a dream about your Grandmother last night," she conceded, "The box ghost tried to steal that old pendant of hers that she gave Danny and he told me a little bit about her, and last night I couldn't fall asleep so I did some research over the Pendant and I found some weird stuff, and then I had this dream. I guess that I was hoping that it was just my overactive imagination, or maybe I'm just crazy."

She looked up at Jazz, and noticed that the girl's face was oddly pale, "What's wrong Jazz!"

"I had a dream about her last night too," the girl's voice was small and very fragile sounding, "She told me that everything was going to work out alright and that I need to tell my parents everything pretty soon. I thought that my brain was just doing that to me to help me feel better, but the last thing she told me was 'tell her that she's not crazy'." Jazz swallowed loudly, "I thought that it was just caused by stress or something!"

"Was she wearing a big medallion on a velvet ribbon?" Sam asked.

"And it had a 'CW' on it!" Jazz added, her voice becoming panicked, "There has to be a logical explanation for this!"

"No, it's a ghostly explanation," Sam sighed, rubbing her temples with her pointer fingers, "She knew that I wouldn't believe what she said without some kind of proof. She got into both of our dreams with Clockwork's help."

"Who's?" Jazz asked, her voice and breathing slowly returning to normal.

"A ghost friend of Danny's," she answered.

"Ok," Jazz said as she stood up, "But I think that I need to go call Gary now, I need a dose of some normalcy." And with that she headed up the stairs.

Chuckling slightly at the antics of the oldest Fenton sibling, Sam got to her feet and headed up the stairs towards Danny's room. She may not be able to tell him everything, but at least she could show him what she found out about the pendant. Opening the door, a devious smirk spread across her face as she saw Danny sleeping peacefully on his side. Closing the door behind her she began to creep across the room, and once she was only a foot from the bed, she pounced.

But much to her dismay, her only reward was a slightly surprised grunt and two arms flipping her onto her back and pinning her to the bed. Two blazing green eyes stared down at her prone from in alarm before the returned to blue and the boy slumped against her in relief, his head resting gently on her chest.

"Your reflexes have gotten better," she joked shakily.

"You scared the hell out of me Sam," he sighed, his eyes closed, "I guess I slept deeper last night than I normally do."

"Yeah," she chuckled dryly, "Normally I don't get attacked when I wake you like this."

"Sorry," he groaned, rubbing his eyes against her chest, as one arm pulled her to him more tightly, "I guess that I'm just more on edge worrying about that stupid ghost war."

"It's alright," she sighed, one of her hands finding its way to his hair and beginning to massage his scalp, "I shouldn't have jumped on you like that."

"It's ok," he looked up at her, his voice sounding very suggestive, "I like it when you jump on me."

"Danny!" she blushed, slapping him on his bare chest.

"What?" he asked feigning innocence, and giving her the best puppy dog pout he could manage.

A small giggle escaped her lips and she buried her face in the crook of his neck, "You look so silly." Her voice muffled slightly by his neck.

"Oh thanks," he said, pretending to be hurt by her words.

"I'm sorry," she giggled, playing up to his mock hurt, and planting a small kiss on the tip of his nose.

"You better be," he pouted.

"And what if I'm not?" she pulled away, crossing her arms over her chest and doing her best to look defiant while trying to suppress the fit of giggles that she found herself in the midst of.

"I'll just have to make you," he grinned devilishly, pulling her back to him and pinning her to the bed with his body weight.

"I'd like to see you try," she replied breathily, finding it hard to breath with a shirtless Danny pinning her to the bed.

"I bet you would," and with that he bent his head down and captured her lips in an intense kiss.

Sam responded ardently, pressing back into the kiss with as much force as she could muster while being pinned down. His tongue slid across her lips and she opened her mouth to him; freeing her arms she wrapped them around his neck, her hands finding there way to his hair. Groaning into the kiss, one of his hands cupped her cheek gently as the other came to rest on her hip, before sliding up along her waist. Their whole bodies felt like they were on fire, as their mouths continued to work furiously against one another. One of Sam's hands slid to his neck, before moving to the lean muscle of his chest, and without opening her eyes or pulling away from the kiss, her hand began to trace over every single scar within reach. He had accumulated a lot of them over the years, most of which she had treated. Her hand moved to a particularly jagged one that ran across his abs, and she traced it from where it began on the left side of his rib cage to his right hipbone.

Breaking the kiss for a moment, Danny moaned heavily into her shoulder, and chill bumps ran up and down her spine at the noise. It was completely thrilling to know that she had caused the noise that had issued from him moments before, and she sought out his mouth with her own, pulling him back into another fiery kiss. She had never intended the wakeup call to turn into this, but she found that she was quiet glad that it had. A gasp escaped her lips as his hand, which had been previously resting on her rip cage, moved up suddenly pushing her bra up over her breast, successfully freeing them from their confinement. She had to bite her lip to silence a shrill moan as his hand closed in over her now exposed flesh.

A knock at the door cause both of them to stop in their tracks.

"Danny dear," his mother's voice called, "Jazz and I are making pancakes, do you and Sam want some."

"Yeah mom," he choked out, glad that his mother hadn't burst into the room like she normally did. He listened carefully until her footsteps had faded down the hall before speaking again, "That was close."

"Yeah it was," she replied softly. Leaning forward, until her lips were right next to his ear, she murmured as seductively as she could manage, "We'll finish this later." Then, giving him a shove that sent him sprawling off the bed, she continued in a no-nonsense tone, "Now go get dressed, those pancakes sound really good!"

"Yes ma'am," he laughed, grabbing some clothes and heading to the bathroom as Sam stood up and proceeded to straighten her clothes and readjust her bra. Reentering the room moments later, now fully dressed, Danny looped an arm around her waist and they began to head downstairs, "So did you come here this morning just to wake me up?"

"No actually," she said, with a smirk, "I did some research on that pendant of yours last night and I thought that you might like to see what I found."

"After breakfast," he yawned before sniffing the air appreciatively, "I can already smell the pancakes and they don't smell mutated."

"They shouldn't be," Sam answered, "When I got here this morning Jazz had just finished cleaning the kitchen. It's now mutant, and invention free."

"Thank god," Danny groaned, "Now let's just hope that it stays that way."

"Well in a little less than a week you'll have to stomach my cooking so you better enjoy this while it lasts," she chuckled.

"It's gotten better now that you're just a plain vegetarian, instead of an Ultra-recyclo-vegetarian," he joked, "And besides, I've been learning to cook from Jazz. She said that she'll be damned if she lets her little brother be a burden on society by not being able to cook."

"That's good," she smiled, "Then I won't have to do all the cooking."

He smiled back at her as they entered the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table, Sam grabbing her, now cold, mug of tea that she had left there earlier, and Danny pouring a glass of orange juice from the pitcher at the table. Both watched Jazz and Maddie as they worked on the pancakes; mother and daughter seemed to be in perfect sync as they moved around each other easily, each taking turns watching the pancakes on the skillet. Jazz flipped the first batch onto a platter and took it to the table as Maddie put the second batch on the skillet to cook.

"Here you go," she smiled, sitting it on the table, "Dig in!"

"You're in a good mood this morning sis," Danny said, raising an eyebrow at his sister as he put a couple pancakes on Sam's plate before grabbing a couple for himself.

"I had a good night's sleep and had a nice talk with Gary this morning," she was practically glowing with happiness as she continued, "He got the working internship with the Dean of Human Studies so his tuition and books are paid for this semester."

"Aren't you working in the Office of the Dean of Human Studies also?" Maddie asked, flipping the pancakes that she was watching.

"Yeah," Jazz replied, "I can go for the internship next year, it's only for Seniors, and Gary's a year ahead of me. The Dean thinks that I'm a shoe in for it next year."

"That's excellent dear," Maddie smiled.

"That is great Jazz," Sam gave the older girl a smile, before taking a bite of her pancakes, "And these pancakes are really good."

"Thanks," Jazz grinned, taking the half full platter back over to the skillet so that the second batch could be added to what was left of the first.

The door to the lab suddenly burst open as Jack came storming into the kitchen, "I thought I smelled pancakes!"

"Help yourself dad," Jazz said as she put the platter back on the table, as she sat down, letting her mom watch the last batch of pancakes cook.

"Don't mind if I do!" the man said loudly, pushing most of the pancakes onto his plate, "To bad we don't have any bacon."

Both Jazz and Sam looked slightly ill at the mention of bacon, but Maddie was the one who spoke up, "You know that you have to watch your cholesterol dear."

"Yeah I know, but I don't have to like it!" he took a bite of his pancakes, "These are amazing!"

"Jazz did most of the work dear," Maddie told him, as Jazz handed her the platter so that she could scoop that last of the pancakes onto it.

"Good job Jazzy-Pants!" Jack grinned, shoving two whole pancakes into his mouth.

"Thanks Daddy," she said, still looking slightly sick.

"Are you alright sweetie?" Maddie asked, putting a hand on her forehead.

She was about to reply when suddenly her hand flew to her mouth and she ran out of the room.

"I'll go check on her," Sam said, quickly jumping to her feet and running after the fleeing redhead.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked, turning to his wife.

"I don't know," she turned to her son, "Do you have any idea?"

"I don't know," he shrugged his shoulders, "They just seem like they've gotten really close lately. Jazz is probably going through another phase where she wishes that she had a sister, and Sam's an only child."

"That makes sense," Maddie said, before getting herself some pancakes.

ZZZ

The bathroom door slammed with a resounding bang, before bouncing back open with the force of the slam. Jazz was on her knees in seconds before the toilet, emptying the contents of her stomach into it. Moments later, she could feel cool hands pull her hair back, and then one hand hold it out of the way as the other rubbed her back softly. Heaving again, she flushed the toilet and slumped against the cool porcelain; the hand continued to rub her back.

"Are you done?" Sam said softly.

"Yeah," Jazz whispered, as the smaller girl helped her to the feet and led her to the sink so she could wash her mouth out. "Thank you," the girl said quietly, once her mouth was clear.

"It's ok," Sam smiled weakly, giving the girl a one-armed hug.

A knock on the door frame drew their attention, and they turned to look at Danny. "Everyone alright?" he questioned. Both nodded, and he walked towards them, going to stand on Jazz's other side, "Do you want to lay down sis?"

"Yep," she replied, nodding her head slowly, "I felt so good this morning, and now…"

"It's alright Jazz," Sam murmured, "Let's just get you to bed."

"You guys are so good to me," the girl whimpered, tears in her eyes as she allowed them to lead her to her room, "I'll never be able to do this without you."

"You're strong sis," Danny smiled, as his sister crawled into her bed, "You'll be just fine."

"Thanks," she smiled before drifting off to sleep.

"Let's leave her alone," Sam whispered, "I still have that information about the pendant to show you."

Danny nodded and they left the girl's room, heading for his.

"Here it is," Sam said, pulling the folded papers out of her pocket, once the door was closed behind them.

Danny read over the article quickly, before looking up at Sam with astonishment, "This is amazing."

"I thought so too," she smiled.

"We should definitely go see the other one in Denver after we get to Caldwell," he said glancing back down at the paper.

"I was thinking the same thing," she said, "It might give us a little bit of insight into all this."

"And this Pariah of Darkness," Danny said, his eyebrows furrowing, "Kind of makes me think Pariah Dark, the whole Celtic Warlord thing sounds about right for him."

She nodded, "But after you locking him away I don't think that we'll have to worry about him, just every other ghost who knows that legend and is seeking world conquest."

"It's nice to have a little advance warning about it though," he said, his eyes darting along the last paragraph of the text, "Not everyone will be as easy to beat as the box ghost. Also by taking it with me it should prevent other ghosts from coming through the portal after it."

"Yeah, but didn't the box ghost say that he was stealing the box for his employer?" Sam asked, running over the fight in her mind.

"That doesn't fit with the box ghosts typical behavior," he grimaced dropping heavily onto his bed, sitting the paper down beside him and rubbing his face with his hands, "I've never known the box ghost to work for anyone. Skulker yes, but the box ghost?"

"Maybe they were trying to scope you out," Sam suggested, sitting beside him and rubbing his back with one hand, "Most ghosts that we know, know that the box ghost is pretty incompetent. It could be a new guy who isn't quite up on everything yet."

"You could be right," he sighed arching his back as she continued to rub it for him, "Though if the box ghost is his hired muscle then I'm not too worried."

"Just keep you wits about you," Sam said, leaning against him, "It could be a strong ghost that we already know trying to throw us off their trail."

"I will, I promise," he said.

As Sam continued to lean against him she closed her eyes contentedly. It was then that she decided that she would just deal with things as they came. There was no point worrying herself about it all the time, she would think about her dream later, and just try to relax for now and enjoy the peace, because she had a feeling that the peace wouldn't last for long.

ZZZ

A/N: Wow! This is the longest chapter yet! I'm really excited. Please review and Try and take a guess that the pendant's name. No ones guessed it yet. Check the author's notes at the beginning of the chapter for hints. Thanks for reading, and now I can finally get some sleep.

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	10. Blurting It Out and Moving Out

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 10: Blurting It Out and Moving Out**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

This chapter is dedicated to **DarkDragonQueen**, the first of two reviewers to guess that Bloigh Crð Croi means 'Half Blood Heart'. The next chapter will be dedicated to the other reviewer who guessed what the name means.

I'm suffering some really bad insomnia right now it's ridiculous, I'm so tired, but I just can't get to sleep. Plus it makes getting to my earlier classes a real bitch, thank god for Red Bull. And on top of that, in my sleep deprived state, I decided that it would be a good idea to die my hair, so I am now a redhead. I kind of like it, but it's pretty funny, I was a dirty blonde before with some really blonde highlights so all the really blonde parts are now tomato red. Hehe, I match my truck.

This chapter is shorter than the last, but I did it this way for a reason. This chapter introduces a little bit of a conflict that will take a while for the characters to resolve and work out. It also has your daily recommended dose of DS!

Well on with the story…

ZZZ

Two cars sat out in front of the Fenton Works building, one was a Taxi and the other was Sam's small black Ford Hybrid, both loaded down with duffle bags and other pieces of luggage containing both close and the assorted ghost hunting devices. Inside the Fenton Works building, Jack and Maddie were alternating between hugging their son and their daughter, and even Sam got grabbed occasionally and pulled into the family hugs. The Fenton parents were a mess to say the least, and Sam was beginning to question the logic of her and Danny leaving on the same day as Jazz. Jack pulled her into her tenth hug that morning and she decided that they had definitely not been thinking straight when they had decided upon their moving date.

"I really have to go," Jazz said, pulling herself free of her parents and taking several steps towards the door, "If I don't leave soon, I'll miss my plane, and those tickets are non-refundable!"

"And we need to get on the road," Danny said, pulling Sam free of his dad, "We have to drive all the way to Colorado, so the sooner we leave, the sooner we get there. It's a long enough drive already."

"Are you sure that you don't want us to come with you and help you move into your dorm, sweetie?" Maddie asked smiling sorrowfully at her son.

"I'm sure mom," Danny said, catching sight of Sam turning to watch his sister, who had begun to look a little green in the face. Jazz had almost made it to the door when her hands went to her mouth and she turned, running up the stairs.

"Not again," Sam shook her head as both she and Danny bounded up the stairs, amazed at just how fast the redhead had made it them, while trying to suppress the contents of her stomach to avoid ruining the carpet.

The sound of Jazz heaving could be heard coming from the open bathroom, followed by her weak declaration, "I'm never eating again." and then more heaving. The two made it to the bathroom just in time to help Jazz up. After rinsing her mouth out, she allowed the two to lead her back down stairs, grinning weakly at them in thanks.

"You really should have gone to the Doctor's Jazz," Maddie said, eyeing her daughter, "If you have the stomach flu or something like that you shouldn't be traveling."

"Mom, I don't have the stomach flu," she groaned, heading for the door, hoping to make it out of the house before the questioning could get any further, "I'm really not sick."

"But you're getting so sick all the time, sweetie!" the woman pleaded taking a step towards her daughter, her eyes shining with worry. "You need to take care of yourself."

Jazz turned back towards her mother slowly, tears forming in her aqua eyes as they locked onto her parents figures. Danny and Sam both stopped short, looking at Jazz's completely heartbreaking face. "I'm not sick mom. I'm pregnant," the girl whispered quietly before she turned around and fleeing from the house. The slamming of the taxi door could be heard, followed quickly by the sound of the vehicle leaving.

But after that the entire house fell into silence.

Danny and Sam began to edge cautiously towards the door, hoping to make it out of the house before the Fenton's came back to their senses, but luck never seemed to be on their side.

"Did you two know about this!" Danny and Sam flinched visibly and turned to face them, both with slumped shoulders and defeated expressions etched on their faces.

"Yes ma'am," Danny said softly, bowing his head.

"And you didn't tell us!"

"No ma'am," he closed his eyes, knowing what was coming. He could feel his anger bubbling up inside of him, and he honestly didn't know how long he could hold it in.

"How could you keep this from us!" his mom screeched, leaning back against Jack for support before continuing, her voice much quieter "Jazz, my baby, is pregnant and you didn't tell us."

"It was something that she needed to tell you on her own," Danny said meekly, not looking at either of his parents, for fear of the anger in their eyes. "She needed to know, that despite everything that she could count on me, and Sam, and Gary. She was terrified to tell you guys, she didn't know how you'd take it. She just needed to know that until she got up her courage to tell you guys, that she had somebody to count on."

Sam caught Danny's hand in her own and gave it a soft squeeze; she could tell that even though his words were talking about Jazz, it was the same way that he felt about telling his parents about his powers.

"Now we need to get going," he finished, "And I suggest that you call Jazz tomorrow when everyone's had some time to think about this."

"Bye Danny," his mom called weakly, to stunned to say anything else, as he and Sam headed out the front door, "Call us when you get to Caldwell." Shouts could be heard coming from inside the house as soon as the door closed behind them.

Climbing into the car, Sam reached out for his hand again. "I'm really proud of you," she murmured, squeezing his hand firmly.

"Thank you Sammy," he sighed, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles softly, "I really, really needed to hear that right about now."

"I just hope that Jazz is ok," she exhaled heavily, as she pulled her car away from the curb, "You should probably call her and check. She won't make it to the airport for at least another ten minutes, so she'll have a little time to talk."

"I'll put it on speaker phone," he answered pulling out his cell phone and dialing one handed, his other hand still clenched tightly in hers, "That way we can both talk."

"Works for me," she answered as the sound of ringing issued loudly from the phone in his hand.

"Hello," Jazz's teary voice, echoed loudly across the line a moment later.

"Hey Jazz," Danny said, "Me and Sam wanted to call and see if you were alright."

"Not right now I'm not," she said sadly, a dry chuckle following the words, "But I will be."

"Danny told off your parents for you," Sam added not taking her eyes off the rode, "They looked slightly ashamed of themselves when we left." She conveniently left out the part about the yelling starting right after they left.

"Thanks little bro," Jazz's voice conveyed her smile, "What would I have done without you and Sam?"

"Don't know," Danny laughed quietly, "But you've saved our butts enough that I'd say we're pretty even."

"Yeah," Jazz's voice was much lighter now than at the beginning of their conversation, "Well I'm almost to the airport, I should let you guys go. Sam, keep an eye on him for me."

"Will do," the girl answered, shooting Danny a playful grin, "Talk to you later Jazz."

"Bye sis," Danny added.

"I'll talk to you two later," Jazz said, sounding very much like her old self again, "Make sure that you two call me when you get to Spirit Haven."

"We will," the two chorused as Danny hit the end call button.

"Sounds like she's doing ok," Sam said as she turned onto the Interstate outside of Amity.

"I hope so," the boy replied, leaning back in his seat, and closing his eyes.

"She really is handling this well," she said, her eyes never leaving the traffic around her car. She paused for a moment, "Danny what would you do if I got pregnant?"

His eyes shot open and his chin dropped, leaving his mouth hanging open. Taking a deep breath to calm himself he spoke, "Is this some king of 'Is your man a dud or a stud' Cosmo quiz?" All the while his was mind running at a thousand miles a second, trying desperately to find a way to steer this conversation into safer waters.

"Its more like a 'Is he the one, or just a bum' quiz," she smirked slightly, remembering quiet clearly using this type of quiz to unnerve the boys after her mother had gotten her a subscription to Cosmo in hopes of getting her to be more feminine. The quizzes had proven to be quite addicting, and their answers, frighteningly accurate. "But I'm being serious, just answer my question."

His eyes flashed green in panic and for a moment, she thought that he was going to phase right out of the car just to avoid the question, but instead he got the urge to flee under control, "You're really serious about this aren't you?"

"Of course," she shot him a look before turning her eyes back to the road, "I figured that I might as well ask you now while I have you trapped in a car for only god knows how long. That way I'll get my answer, and we'll have plenty of time to talk it over so there is no awkwardness about this whole conversation, later."

Both fell silent. This was not something to take lightly, and Danny knew it. As much as he wanted to avoid this conversation all together, he knew that he needed to take it seriously. His sister's pregnancy had really pushed the envelope on this one, making it seem like an all too real consequence of their relationship, instead of a worry that was shoved to the back of their minds. And because of this, he knew that he had to say just the right thing. What he and Sam had was to special to ruin, by saying something stupid.

He had seen Sam's maternal instinct go into overdrive since she had found out about Jazz, and he knew that it had her emotions on edge, even though she would never admit it. She had taken Jazz's plight to heart, and on more than one occasion he had seen her begin to get mild sympathy pains for his sister; it almost made him dread Jazz actually going into labor. But he pushed the thought aside and went back to the issue at hand.

Sam had never been one to respond badly to a silence like this, as rare as the occasion of her best friend ever thinking so seriously over something was, but he knew that he should respond soon. She had been quite emotional lately, and he didn't put it past her to hit him for taking to long. She had done so enough over the years of their friendship for him to know that if she did, he would have a bruise rivaling the one on his jaw from crashing into the handrail of the bleachers. He absentmindedly rubbed the now nearly nonexistent bruise, that had been a bright violet only days before.

"What makes you think that I'd do anything so drastically different than I do now?" he said finally, his voice coming out much stronger than he felt, as he completely amazed himself by managing not to phase out a single body part, "Sam you mean the world to me… and anything that we created together would mean just as much."

A strangled sob escaped her lips at the sincerity of his words as she pulled her hand, which still held his, to her face to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Why do you have to always know what to say to make me cry, Damn it!" she joked despite the tears still streaming freely down her face, "You are the only person I know who can make me cry this easily!"

"It's your own fault for getting me to actually enjoy reading Shakespeare and all those other old time, romantic playwrights," he said accusingly, while he silently sighed in relief that her tears didn't seem to be obscuring her vision.

"I guess you're right," she smiled softly, a warmth lighting up her face brightly, "But did you really mean it, or did you just say it because you knew it's what I wanted to hear?"

"Of course I meant it," he answered some what indignantly, "Despite popular belief, I can't read your mind. I just told you how I felt."

"Thanks," she murmured, "That's how I feel too."

Looking over at Sam's smiling face, Danny made a sudden decision. And in hindsight, it was probably one of the best decisions that he had made in his life to just say what was on his mind instead of waiting until later when he would have had sufficient time to make himself completely nauseous with nervousness. "Sam how could I feel any other way?" his voice was soft but was gradually gaining strength as he continued, "I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with you, no matter how long or short it may be. I want us to have children, and live to a ripe old age; to see our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I want us to be happy, and have a long, wonderful life together."

He took a deep breath, taking a moment to observe her reaction before speaking again. "Sam," he paused, as she changed lanes, "I want you to marry me."

The car quickly jerked to the side, as Sam took the exit ramp a little faster than recommended before pulling into the parking lot of a trashy looking gas station. She had barely shifted the vehicle into park, before she ripped off her seatbelt and launched herself into Danny's arms, her lips immediately sealing over his. Danny was slightly shocked by her sudden aggressiveness, but he responded to her passionate kiss all the same; settling herself astride his lap she arched her neck into the kiss for a better angle, as her hands splayed across his chest. She could feel Danny's hands cupping her butt and pulling her closer and she groaned deeply at the feeling of their bodies pressed so tightly together. Both of them knew that they should stop before things got out of hand, as this was neither the time or the place for where things were quickly headed, but they allowed themselves a few more moments of frantic kissing before they pulled apart and Sam climbed back into her own seat.

"I'll take that as a yes," he smiled goofily.

"Of course it's a yes!" she huffed indignantly crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a challenging glare. He could tell by her look that she was about to state her mind, "But we're not getting married right away. We've been waiting to be together for so long that we can wait a little longer to get married."

"I agree," he said, glad that at least one of them was managing to be logical given the situation. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to marry her, he just wanted to wait a while. It would probably be a good idea to test the waters before diving in, "Let's just get used to living together first and we'll plan from there."

"When did you get so smart?" she giggled, pinching his cheek playfully.

"I think that you're rubbing off on me," he responded, rubbing his cheek, pretending that her pinch had hurt.

"You wish," she said, giving him a pointed look that caused him to blush at what she was implicating. Though he honestly couldn't say that she was entirely wrong…

Seeing the dazed look on Danny's face she shook her head, shooting a look skyward before shifting the car back into drive and heading for the entrance ramp back onto the interstate. They were barely out of Amity and already things had begun to escalate between them. She could only imagine what would happen when they finally made it to the house. A pleasant shiver ran up and down her spine at the thought, and she couldn't help but mimic Danny's goofy smile from only moments before.

ZZZ

A/N: In all likelihood, next chapter will either be a lemon, or a really intense lime. I'll give warning about it in the chapter so if you don't like that kind of stuff, you can just skip over it. Alright, well that's all for now, I'll have the next chapter up either late Sunday or Monday.

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	11. House Warming

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 11: House Warming**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. I wish I did, but I don't.

This chapter is dedicated to **Gecko Osco**, she was the second reviewer to guess what the name of the pendant was. I didn't initially plan to have one of the dedicated chapters be a lemon, but it kind of snuck up on me. Hehe. Lemon's are the sneakiest fruit.

**Important: **There is a **LEMON** in this chapter and for those of you who like this story but don't like lemons please just skip over it. But if you read it, please just be mature enough to handle it. I am not trying to offend anyone with this. Thanks.

Also I'm assuming that Amity Park is in the Ohio, Illinois, Indiana area. I kind of figured that this is where they'd be considering that they drove to Wisconsin. I don't know where it's supposed to be located, but it's in that relative area for the sake of my story.

ZZZ

It was 5:30 in the morning when Danny parked Sam's car in the driveway of an attractive two story house shaded by large oaks. Sam yawned again, having just been awakened moments before to read the directions about how to navigate through Spirit Haven, to Danny; they had taken turns driving, alternating every hour or so, and it had worked well for them. Shutting off the car, both sat there for a moment just staring at the house before them. They couldn't make out many details in the dark, but it didn't stop them from straining their eyes to try and see the house anyway.

"It's big," Sam said after a moment.

"Yeah," Danny answered.

A strange sensation ran over them as they looked upon the house, it was like dread and excitement mixed into one. On one hand they were thrilled to be on their own in a place were no one knew them and they could start over fresh. But on the other hand both suddenly felt the crushing weight of being on their own, settle upon them. Just thinking about living so far from everyone they knew had been hard, but it was nothing compared to how they felt now.

"Well we should get everything inside," Sam started, opening her door and climbing out, doing her best to push the uncomfortable feelings she was experiencing to the back of her mind, "We can get a few hours sleep before running around later today and getting all the stuff we need. The movers will be here tomorrow so we'll have the place figured out enough to tell them where to put everything."

"Tomorrow?" he asked as each opened one of the back doors and began to grab the duffle bags that filled the backseat, "We're are we going to sleep if none of our stuff will be here 'til tomorrow?"

"I got a blowup mattress packed away in the trunk," she responded as they moved towards the house, arms full of bags. Reaching the front door, Sam rooted in her pocket for her keys and unlocked the door; giving the knob a twist she pushed open the door and began to feel around on the wall for a light switch. Finding two switches she flipped them both; behind them the porch light came on, as well as the lights in the front room that they were standing in.

"It's nice," Danny commented, looking at the awful 70's wallpaper that lined the walls of the front room.

"We're buying paint tomorrow," Sam said, rolling her eyes before glancing at Danny who was making a face at the wallpaper, "I can't handle this horrible paper."

"You're the boss," he answered, dropping the bags he was carrying. Sam did the same, and they both headed back to the car, grabbing more stuff. After three more trips they had cleared the backseat and the trunk, and the two collapsed on the floor by their things.

"Give your sister a call really quick and tell her that we got here," Sam told him, handing him one of their cell phones, which she had just fished out of a nearby bag.

"But it's 5:30 in the morning!" he replied, looking at the girl like she was crazy.

"Well firstly, it may be 5:30 here, but there it's 7:30," she said in a matter-o-fact tone of voice, "Plus I really don't think that she will be able to get to sleep until she knows that we got here safely."

"Good point," he replied, punching in Jazz's number and putting the phone on speaker.

It barely rang once, before Jazz picked up. "Are you two alright?" she asked, not even bothering to say hello.

"Yes," Danny rolled his eyes at his sister's worried voice, "We just got here a couple of minutes ago, and Sam told me to call you."

"Well now that I know you guys are safe, I'm going to bed," she yawned, "Just make sure and call mom and dad, they'll want to know that you're safe."

"Have you talked to them yet?" Danny asked.

"They're called like six times, but I've let it go to voicemail," Jazz yawned again, "I'll talk to them tomorrow, but right now I just need some time."

"Just make sure you talk to them," Danny said, "Well I'll let you get to bed sis, talk to you later."

"Bye little bro," she said sleepily and then hung up.

"I'm going to call mom and dad really quick," he sighed, "They're probably already down in the lab so I doubt they'll answer, but I'll leave them a message." He dialed the number to Fenton Works and sure enough, after several rings, the answering machine picked up. "Hey guys," he said after the machine beeped, signaling him to begin recording his message, "We made it to Spirit Haven; I just wanted to let you know that we got here. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Both lay back against their mountain of stuff for a moment, eyes drifting closed for a second. "I didn't know you could fit so much stuff into one little car," Sam sighed breaking the temporary silence, before letting out a giant yawn.

"What's worse is half of that stuff we just brought in is ghost hunting gear," Danny replied, leaning his head on her shoulder, "All the stuff that I had, plus what my parents gave us just in case."

"No wonder those bags were so heavy," she groaned, "Why couldn't we have a hobby that doesn't involve quiet so much gear?"

Laughing slightly, Danny got to his feet and offered her a hand, "Let's just lock up and get to bed. We got a bunch of stuff to do later today, and neither of us had had much sleep since yesterday."

"Sounds good," she answered, taking Danny's hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. Reaching towards the door, she locked it and turned off the porch light, before she began to root through the pile, pulling out two bags, one that contained the blowup mattress and the other that was full of blankets. "Now let's pick a room to crash in." Danny took one of the bags from her and proceeded to follow her up the stairs and down the hallway. Heading into one room, Sam flipped the light on, "I think that this is the master bedroom."

They dropped their bags and Danny walked across the room to another door, opening it he peered inside, "Well this is a bathroom." Turning back to Sam he saw her pulling out the mattress and pressing the button to inflate it, walking back to her side he began to pull the blankets out of the other bag. By the time he finished the mattress was inflated, and without a word he and Sam began to make the bed.

"I forgot the pillows down stairs," Sam yawned, standing up slowly and heading for the door.

"I'll get them," he offered, jumping to his feet and beating her to the door.

"Alright," she stretched, turning back towards the bed, "Will you grab my small purple duffle bag too? It's got my night clothes in it."

"No problem," he answered, heading out the door.

"Will you turn off the downstairs light too?" she called after him loudly, a moment later, "I don't want to waist electricity."

"Yeah," he yelled back up to her.

A moment later he came back into the room, carrying the pillows, one of his bags, and her small duffle bag. "Thanks," she smiled, grabbing her duffle bag and pulling out an oversized black t-shirt before heading for the bathroom. Throwing the pillows onto the bed Danny pulled a pair of baggy bed pants and shirt out of his bag and changed quickly. Sam reappeared seconds later, her oversized shirt coming down to mid thigh, leaving plenty of bare leg peaking out from underneath. "You don't have to wear that shirt if you don't want to," she said, one eyebrow raised. She knew for a fact that he seldom wore a shirt to bed unless it was really cold out.

"Oh, ok," he blushed nervously, taking off the shirt.

"Honestly Danny," Sam joked, crawling into bed and patting the space beside her, "You have spent the last four years occasionally phasing out of items of clothes at the worst possible times. I've seen almost everything." His blush darkened and he turned out the light quickly to hide it from her before he climbed onto the open side of the bed. He felt the bed shift as Sam got comfortable and he swallowed nervously, as he concentrated on not phasing through the mattress.

With his luck he'd get stuck inside it.

Lying down, he tried to remain perfectly still, suddenly becoming very nervous about being in the same bed as her. Unbeknownst to him, Sam was feeling the same way. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she scooted closer to him and cuddled up against his chest. Danny tensed for a moment before carefully wrapping his arms around her waist; both were too nervous to breath properly, but slowly both were able to settle comfortably into one another's arms. They laid there for several minutes, both trying to fall into the sleep that their bodies needed so much, but suddenly sleep seemed a million miles away.

Sam was the first to become restless and began to squirm around slightly, but it didn't take her long to realize that sleep was not going to be easily reached. Rubbing her face against Danny's chest she felt him shiver slightly; one of his hands ran teasingly along the curve of her hips and she too shivered. Leaning forward slightly she placed fleeting kisses along his collar bone, despite the little voice in the back of her head telling her that it was a bad idea; he tensed slightly as his hand traveled back up her hip, causing her night shirt to pull up slightly. Arms tentatively reached up and snaked slowly around his neck, pulling his face down to hers so that their foreheads were pressed together. A slightly awkward moment passed briefly between them before their lips met, heatedly mashing together. Danny ran his tongue along her lips and she gasped, allowing him access, her hands tangling in his hair as she pulled him to her tightly.

A hand found its way under the hem of Sam's night shirt, sliding over her completely bare hip and traveling up to rest on her rib cage. Danny's mind barely registered the fact that Sam wasn't wearing any underwear before she broke from the kiss, her lips moving to his neck where she nipped him slightly, before running her tongue along his pulse point. Shuddering, he moved his hand up farther until it closed around her right breast. Sam moaned into his neck and he felt his nether regions give a twinge at the very feminine noise that escaped her lips.

God, how he loved that noise.

Pulling back, Sam looked him in the face and he matched her gaze much more calmly than he felt. Her amethyst eyes were glassy and questioning, and he smiled softly at her in response. No words were needed between them, it was like they were on the same frequency, and for once there would be no misunderstandings between them.

Pushing her onto her back, Danny straddled her waist, careful not to put his full weight on her. Reaching down, he caught the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head, revealing her soft white skin. There was barely any light in the room, but the faint moonlight filtering in the window allowed him to see the pale skinned girl beneath him clearly. Her black hair fanned out around her head and her glassy eyes were looking up at him with a mixture of more emotions than he could count; her delicate neck blended smoothly into her petite shoulders and her ample breast were rising and falling with every ragged breath she took. His hands came to rest gently on her slender waist before slowly tracing up her rib cage, causing another moan to escape her. Reaching up she caught his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, one hand staying on the back of his neck as the other traced slowly down his chest, before circling his belly button teasingly. Groaning into the kiss he grinded his hips against hers and she gasped arching her back until her breast pressed against his equally bare chest.

Moving his face slowly from hers, he moved down to her chest descending upon one of her breast. Gasping loudly she arched her back again, as his tongue traced hotly around her nipple before pulling it into his mouth. Crying out loudly she bucked her hips against his and held his head in place with the hand that was now fisted in his hair. Her other hand, which had been previously tracing around his belly button, now moved down farther, tickling the flesh right above the waist band of his pants before sliding under the elastic band and closing around his member. Danny bit down slightly on her nipple in surprise as one of his hands closed around her other breast; Sam let out a slight yelp before her hand slowly began to work it's way up and down his hard shaft, every movement of her hand making the heat between her own legs build in intensity.

Switching breast, Danny pulled it into his mouth, suckling at it as he had done to the other one, before burying his face between them and moaning loudly as she continued to pay careful attention to his member. One of his hands caught her wrist and slowly pulled her hand from his bed pants as he gave her a hungry look, one which frightened and thrilled her at the same time. Sliding off his pants he threw them to the side and looked down at her, she nodded quickly and he slid a hand slowly down her body until his fingertips were resting on her swollen lips. Spreading them apart slowly he slid a finger into her and she bucked against him wildly, a loud, breathless moan escaping her mouth. Inserting a second finger he pumped them in and out of her slowly, watching her squirm frantically under his attentions. She was already very wet, more than ready for him, but some part of him was waiting for a sign from her. A sign that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait. His member was already throbbing painfully and each gasp or moan that escaped her was making it worse.

"Please," she choked out, her entire body trembling as his fingers plunged into her again.

He nodded slowly and removed his hand, positioning himself between her legs. It was her first time, and he knew that it was going to hurt for her, but the pleading look in her eyes kept him from second guessing himself. Lacing one of his hands with hers he pushed into her slowly until he hit resistance; he looked down at her pained face, and she nodded again. "Do it fast," she gritted her teeth together, and braced herself. In one fluid motion he broke her barrier and the girl beneath him cried out in pain, tears springing to her eyes as she tightened her grip on his hand.

Stopping, he held himself still, waiting for a sign that she had adjusted to having him inside her. After a tense moment, the pain had faded some, and Sam rocked her hips against his experimentally, earning a moan from both of them. Taking that as a sign to proceed he pulled out of her almost completely before thrusting back in, Sam lifting her hips to meet him. Thrusting in again, Sam arched her back, crying out a strangled version of his name; burying his face in the crook of her neck he continued to thrust into her, reveling in the sound of their flesh slapping together.

"Oh god, Sam," he choked out, breathing in her scent before seeking out her lips and kissing her heavily.

"Harder," she hissed, catching his lower lip between her teeth.

Danny complied, building up speed and force as they continued, finding their own rhythm quickly. Sam could feel something building in the pit of her stomach, like a spring coiling tighter and tighter with each thrust from her lover. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. Suddenly the coil exploded, waves of pleasure shooting through her body like electricity as she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him into her as far as she could, her own orgasm triggering his as he thrust into her one more time, spilling his seed deeply within her as they both screamed out the others name. He collapsed on top of her, both breathing heavily as the rode the aftershocks of their nearly simultaneous orgasms.

Sam wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "That was amazing," she murmured, her eyelids beginning to droop.

"Yeah it was," he whispered, pulling back and kissing her on the forehead, before he rolled them onto their sides and pulled out of her slowly. Sam snuggled deeper into his chest and he hugged her to him as tightly as he could without hurting her.

Within seconds, they were asleep.

ZZZ

Sunlight poured into the bedrooms as one of the two began to stir. They had spent the last several hours sleeping blissfully, but the sun insisted that they wake and greet the day. Grumbling Sam snaked free of Danny's grip and grabbed her nightshirt pulling it on, before padding down the stairs to retrieve yet another bag, this one containing her shower things and a couple changes of clothes. Reentering the bedroom she saw Danny had changed positions and was now laying spread eagle over the entire inflatable mattress, a sheet resting just below his belly button and a smile spread across his face. Laughing to herself at how cute he looked, she pulled her shampoo, soap, and some towels out of the bag and headed for the bathroom that was connected to the room.

The hot water felt wonderful on her back and she sighed in contentment as she allowed it to massage her back for a few more minutes before washing herself quickly. Turning off the water, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed her big towel, wrapping it around her body. Picking up her other towel, she wound it around he hair and headed out into the bedroom to change. She had just finished getting dressed, when Danny grumbled something unintelligible and yawned, sitting up slowly as he scratched his stomach.

"Morning," she grinned, as he blinked sleepily at her.

"Why'd ya get up so early?" he yawned, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his messier than normal hair.

"It's nearly noon," she answered glancing at her watch and pulling on a pair of shoes.

"You should have woke me up," he slid out of bed and began to root through his duffle bag. He pulled out a change of clothes, "Do you have a towel I can use?"

"Here," she threw her black towels to him, laughing at how disoriented he was first thing in the morning, "There's some shampoo and soap in the bathroom if you need it."

"Thanks," he got to his feet with a yawn, his clothes and her black towels in his arms, "I forgot all about soap and stuff."

"Don't worry," Sam smiled, "We'll get some stuff for you today." He nodded in response and shuffled to the bathroom, his eyes halfway closed. Shaking her head at her nearly comatose best friend she headed down the stairs and began to sort through the duffle bags that were still laying all over the front room. Opening one, she saw several boxes of breakfast bars, poptarts, and also several bottles of water. "Thank god for Jazz," she chuckled, remembering the girl shoving that very bag at her and insisting that they needed it.

Heading for the kitchen she emptied the bag onto the counter, she sorted through the boxes until she found her favorite poptarts, the blueberry ones with no icing on them. She popped open the box and pulled out a package, ripping the foil wrapper she pulled one of the pastries out and began to munch on it; there was no place to sit so she hopped up onto the counter and began to make a mental list of all the things that she and Danny would need to get.

The house was bigger than she had expected and she groaned slightly, a bigger house meant more furniture was needed to fill it; she didn't want to go crazy furnishing the place, but she also wanted it to be a comfortable place for her and Danny. Looking around at the kitchen she smiled slightly, it was the most modern room that she had seen so far. The cabinets were all chrome and a big, new looking stove sat next to an equally new looking refrigerator. Across the room there was a chrome sink and beside it, under the granite counters was a dishwasher. The only problem with the room was the stark white walls, and that could be easily remedied with some paint; it looked as though the previous owners had remodeled it shortly before they moved.

Finishing her poptarts she hopped off the counter and opened the refrigerator; the inside was clean and still had the new appliance smell to it. Reaching up she spun the dial to turn on the refrigerator and built in freezer, they would have to get some groceries soon, and it would be to their advantage to have it cold when they got them home.

Arms suddenly snaked around her waist, and she smiled as a kiss was planted on her neck. "How are you feeling?" Danny asked, nuzzling his nose against the spot that he had just kissed.

"Fine," she smiled, placing her hands over his, "Just a little bit sore."

"I wonder why," he said with a laugh, an eyebrow raising suggestively as he loosened his grip on her waist, allowing her to turn and face him.

"Shut up," she giggled, burying her face in his chest.

ZZZ

A/N: Ok, I'm pretty happy with this chapter. And I hope y'all like it. I have a funny chapter planned out for the next one and I think y'all will enjoy it. Please Review and tell me what you liked or disliked about this chapter, it'll help me improve my writing skills, and I hope to break a hundred reviews with this story. I never could manage to accomplish that with my old account, and this story has already received more reviews than any of the stories that I wrote under my other name. You guys are great and I love you to pieces!

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	12. Of Shopping and Ghost Attacks

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 12: Of Shopping and Ghost Attacks**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. Man I really hate saying that, but it's true. Come to think of it, I really don't own much of anything besides my computer.

This chapter is dedicated to **Lacey 52** for her wonderful story 'Links in the Chain'. This story has had me hooked from day one, and if you haven't read it you should. She recently completed it, and I can honestly say that I'm sad to see it be done. So anyone here who hasn't read it, please go do so and send her a lovely review for all her hard work. 61 chapters is no small feat.

On with the story!

ZZZ

The trunk was full of cans of paint after only the first store of the day; bad 70's wallpaper was just something that Sam was unwilling to live with for even a short period of time. Danny had laughed as he watched her load the cart with can after can of different colors of paint, occasionally asking him what colors he wanted. There was no denying that Sam was the artsy type, and she had been talking his ear off since they left the paint store.

"I'm thinking about doing a mural in the master bedroom," she said as she dug through one of the bags of painting supplies, "What do you think?"

"It's your room Sam," he said, turning her car into the parking lot outside the local furniture store, "Paint whatever you want."

A blush stained her face as she closed the bag, "I was kind of thinking that we could share the room." Her voice was quiet and her face bright red; he parked the car and she jumped out quickly, heading for the store without waiting for him to catch up.

"Wait Sam!" he yelled, shutting off the car and running across the parking lot after her. But instead of slowing down to wait for him, she sped up; as he finally caught up to her, he could see that her ears were still very red with embarrassment. "Sam stop!"

Sam stopped at store entrance, and he could tell by the stiffness in her posture that she was trying to compose herself. Turning to him with her face completely neutral as he finally caught up with her, no one would have known that only seconds before she had been as red as a tomato. "How about we concentrate on furniture that we're going to need right away, and worry about the rest later?"

"Alright," he agreed, catching her hand before she could move away, "But about what you said a minute ago…"

"Just forget I said anything," she said, reverting into the carefree gothic shell that she had spent so long in, trying to hide her feelings.

"I think it's a good idea," he said, rather forcefully, cutting her off before she could continue.

"You do?" a faint smile began to creep onto her face.

"Yep," he smiled, "And I also think that a mural would be awesome."

"Thank you," she smiled broadly as she pulled him into a hug, "Now lets get some furniture."

Going through the store, the two quickly found thing that they liked; big, black beanbags for the living room, a wrought iron table and chairs for the dining room, a modern looking TV table, and several modern looking lamps. It was probably a good thing that they had decided to furnish the house as they went, because they quickly found that furniture shopping was not the most enjoyable thing that they had ever done.

"When are you going to want these pieces delivered?" the sales representative that had been helping them asked, as they followed him to the counter.

"Well we still have some shopping to do," Sam said thoughtfully as she turned to Danny, "How long to you think its going to take to get groceries, bathroom stuff, and a couple of small appliances?"

"We passed a super store on the way here," he said, "So we should be able to do all that there. It'll take maybe an hour and a half to finish that and then a half hour to get back home."

"So if they give us three hours that'll be plenty of time just incase we run into any problems," she glanced down at her watch, "How about getting the stuff delivered at 6."

"That'll work," he replied, and Sam set about finishing the paperwork and paying for their purchases.

As they headed out to the car, Danny spoke, "I feel bad about you paying for everything."

"It's my parent's money, Danny," she smiled slightly, "And they have plenty off it. Plus I think that it might worry them enough to pay me a visit if I don't spend the furniture money that they put into my account."

"Good point," Danny chuckled, "That would be awkward if they visited."

Getting into the car, this time with Sam driving, they headed towards the Super Store. It wasn't a long drive, and soon they were in the parking lot looking up at the monstrous store in front of them. "We are so going to get lost," Danny said, his eyes wide.

"Yep," she replied.

Danny was about to respond when a stream a thin, blue spectral mist escaped his mouth in a gasp. "Damn," he growled, looking around for the ghost.

Sam began to frantically dig through her purse, "Damn is right. We don't have a thermos, or a Porta-Portal with us!"

"Maybe it's one of those non-malevolent ones that you said are here in Spirit Haven," he said, his voice hopeful, but screams of 'ghost!' cut through the air and the boy groaned. Looking around quickly to see if there was anyone around, Danny transformed quickly and leapt into the air.

"Don't let anyone see you!" Sam hissed pointedly, "If the phantom of Amity Park was to suddenly show up her, right after two former residents did, it'll raise suspicion!"

Without a word, Danny became invisible and flew towards the sounds of the screams. It wasn't hard to find the ghost causing all the trouble; he wasn't really trying to hide. The eight foot tall mound of goop was bellowing at the top of its lungs and throwing things at the people as they fled.

"Hey ugly!" Danny shouted, quickly gaining the ghost's attentions, "Why don't ya pick on someone your own size!" With that he dove at the ghost.

"STOP!" a highpitch voice screamed, and suddenly a blue shield formed around the monster. Not having a chance to stop or swerve, Danny ran into it headlong; loosing his concentration, his invisibility slipped.

Sprawling across the ground, Danny looked up at a feminine figure that was hovering a few feet above him. Her skin was a pale blue and her hair was black, framing her petite face prettily. "Please don't hurt my baby," she whimpered, her tiny hands fisting themselves in the front of her gossamer toga, "He didn't mean anything by it."

"Baby?" Danny said incredulously, "That thing's eight feet tall!"

"Only when he's upset," she said softly, bowing her head, "Reggie is normally such a sweet child." Turning around she faced the goop she claimed was her child, "Reggie sweetheart," she cooed at him, "Please honey, it's time to go home."

A pout formed on the ghosts face and he slowly began to shrink until he was only a foot tall. Crouching down that woman picked him up and turned back to Danny, "I am Meia. And I'm the Spirit of Motherhood."

"Spirit?" he raised and eyebrow.

"Yes," she replied politely as she rocked her child back and forth, "There are several of us around, we were all born into this afterlife from an ideal instead of a person with unfinished business." She smiled warmly at him, "Thank you for not hurting my baby." Then she vanished without even a puff of smoke.

"That was weird," he said turning around and heading towards the parking lot, where he ducked behind a car to change back. Standing he scanned the parking lot for Sam, catching sight of her heading his way he smiled.

"So what was it?" she asked once she was finally within earshot.

"Some spirit and her temperamental child," he explained, looping his arm around her waist, "They left on there own, I really didn't have to do anything."

"That's a nice change," she answered, leaning her head against his shoulder as they headed towards the store.

ZZZ

A/N: I apologize for the short chapter. I have two 15 page essays do at the beginning of next week and 5 Midterms that I have to take. I'm really driving myself up the wall, and it seems that my Damn Muses have deserted me. I had the hardest time writing on this chapter and I don't think that it turned out very good. But it got me from point A to B, and hopefully my Muses will be back by the time I start to type the next chapter. Thanks for reading.

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	13. Ghost Cat

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 13: Ghost Cat**

**Disclaimer: **I really don't own it!

Hopefully this is a better chapter than I subjected you lovely readers to last time, but I can't promise anything, my muses are still MIA.

ZZZ

It was 11:30 at night when Danny and Sam finally made it to bed, and between a day full of shopping, weird ghosts, and a late furniture delivery truck, they were completely wiped out. Apparently the driver hadn't understood the directions that Sam had written on the delivery form and had been driving around for hours before he actually found the house. He of course had to make the statement that it shouldn't surprise him that the directions didn't make any sense as women had no sense of direction, and Sam had instantly shot back that he should have pulled over for directions. The only thing that had kept the argument from escalating was Sam's phone going off, and her having to leave the room so her mom wouldn't hear Danny telling the delivery men where to put everything.

Climbing onto the blowup mattress and burying her face into her pillow, Sam groaned, "I hate shopping!"

"Oh come on Sam," Danny laughed, also climbing into bed, "The shopping wasn't that bad. It was the furniture truck not showing up until an hour ago that sucked."

Lifting her head she turned and shot him the best death glare she could muster, "Ok, I hate furniture trucks!" As she finished she buried her face back into her pillow.

"Well tomorrow you can hate moving trucks instead of furniture trucks," he yawned pulling her into his arms.

"All are stuff shows up tomorrow doesn't it?" she mumbled, resting her head lightly on his chest.

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but a sudden shuffling sound from above them, cut him off. Both tensed as the shuffling stopped for a moment before a crash could be heard.

"What is that?" Sam asked her eyes wide.

"I don't know," Danny answered.

"Well, Mr. I-have-ghost-powers, go check it out!" she shot back as she crawled out of bed, "All the ghost hunting stuff is up there!"

"Damn," Danny stood, transforming, "I forgot about that stuff being up there."

"Let's hope that its not some stupid kids breaking in," Sam said moving to his side and grabbing his arm so he could phase them both through the ceiling, "There is a tree branch that passes right by the boarded over window. It wouldn't take much to get in."

"So you'd rather it be ghosts?" he asked, on eyebrow raising in surprise.

"Surprisingly yes," she said softly as Danny flew them upwards, and went intangible.

Once they were in the Attic he sat Sam down and they looked around; they could barely make out the shape of the table that had been there when they moved in. A few glowing ecto-guns sat on its surface and beside it a few were laying on the ground. Peering farther into the darkness, neither could see anything that could have caused the noises that they had heard.

"I guess that it was nothing," Danny said turning to Sam, but a sudden spurt of blue spectral mist proved him wrong. Danny groaned, his voice sarcastic, "You just had to hope for ghosts."

"Well sorry," she replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She was way beyond tired and it was doing nothing to improve her furniture deliveryman induced mood.

"I didn't mean it that way," Danny apologized as green, ghost rays surrounded his hands and he scanned the room critically.

"I know," she answered, "I'm just not in the best mood right now."

A loud meow cut through the attic and both Danny and Sam jumped in alarm as a pure white cat materialized on the table. He was glowing a faint blue and his big eyes were a fierce electric blue, with another meow, he jumped from the table and began to walk towards them. Danny prepared to fire his ghost rays should the cat suddenly become a monster and attack them, but the white feline simply wound itself around their legs and began to purr as it rubbed against them. The glowing green disappeared from his hands as he and Sam looked down at the cat.

"He's cute," Sam said crouching down and petting the cat.

"Watch it," Danny advised, watching the cat warily, "He's cute now, but he could turn into a monster."

Sam rolled her eyes slightly at Danny's over protectiveness, as her hand moved to the cat's neck, continuing to scratch him until her hand came into contact with a folded piece of parchment that was tucked under a thick silver chain around the cat's neck. Unfolding it, Sam glanced over it, "It's from that Spirit that you fought outside the Super Store." She then began to read allowed, "Halfling, I have sent this feline specter to you and you're partner's home as a thank you for not harming my baby. Artemis is a faithful companion, and his presence will ward of many of the trouble making ghosts that may find it humorous to play pranks in your home. I especially believe that he will come in handy in the near future."

Sam paused before asking, "Does she know something that we don't?" Picking Artemis up, she stood slowly, the cat purring quite happily in her arms.

"Everyone knows something that we don't," Danny sighed, putting an arm around her waist and phasing her through the floor, "It's just the way things work."

"Yeah," she answered, still scratching the cat, "Everyone knew that we were going to get together before we even knew."

"That's a little different," Danny chuckled releasing her, "We were just to stubborn to admit that everyone was right about us, even though we both kind of knew it."

"I guess that you're right," Sam sighed, sitting the cat down before climbing back into bed, Danny close behind her.

Looking down, she saw the cat preparing to leap onto the end of the mattress. "No!" she said firmly as she pointed at him causing him to stop what he was doing and stare at her with his big blue eyes, "You'll pop the mattress with your claws." Grabbing a spare pillow she threw it at the cat, "That's your bed." Artemis gave her a glare but settled himself down on the pillow none the less, despite the fact that he seemed quite miffed at having to sleep on the small pillow.

"Hopefully he won't poop all over the house like that retarded cat that Jazz had a couple of years ago," Danny yawned, pulling Sam back to his chest, "That thing was so stupid…"

"I seriously doubt that he'll do that," Sam snuggled closer to him, her eyes drooping shut, "He seems really well behaved, despite that racket he made upstairs." She paused, a yawn stretching out her words, "Can ghosts even do that?"

"I have no idea," Danny said in response, his chin coming to rest on Sam's head, and his eyes finally closing completely.

In seconds both were asleep, and the ghost cat peered at them over his shoulder. This was certainly the most unusual assignment that he had ever been given, by the Spirit that he served, but far be it from him to question her motives. She was very wise and knew better than he what to do. The Spirits often did strange things, some things so odd that it almost seemed that the action's very prerogative was to confuse others, but in the end what they did always had a purpose and it turned out well. Still there was something about all this that didn't set well with the pure white cat, and the last time that he had had this feeling…

He shook his head, this was not the time to reminisce about failed missions, he had a job to do, and he was bound and determined to do it. If the Spirits wanted him to guard this pair, and shelter their home from the ghostly residents of Spirit Haven, then he would do his best to fulfill their wishes. Though after that mission that he had botched he was amazed that they Spirits would trust him with this; they had all made it quite clear how important this pair was. It actually made him some what nervous to know that a lot was riding on him; what exactly, he was unsure of, but he knew enough to know that when the oldest and strongest of the spirits are frightened by the possible outcome of his failure, that is was definitely something big.

Yawing a large, open mouthed, cat yawn he rested his head on his front paws. Tomorrow would be busy, and he needed his rest. Slowly his two big, electric blue eyes closed and his breathing slowed; soon he was asleep. But despite being completely asleep, his ears still continued to swivel around for any sign of trouble.

He was determined not to fail again.

ZZZ

A/N: This chapter was a little longer than the last one. Not much, but a little. I didn't have much time to write because I still have some midterms coming up. So I decided to expand Artemis's arrival into a full chapter! He's going to be an important character later on so pay attention! He's not just a regular cat.

Next week is spring break so I should be writing a lot, but I won't be able to post at all during that week because where I'm staying doesn't have internet. Also this week is my little sister's spring break so she's going to be spending half the week with me, so Thursday's update will probably also be small too.

I love y'all so much, and thanks for the beautiful responses, I hope to reach a hundred reviews with this story, something that I could never accomplish with my other account. So as always….

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	14. Movers and Spirits

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 14: Movers and Spirits**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except Artemis, who is actually based of my cat.

This chapter is kind of short, but I wanted to get a chapter out now, because I won't be able to update at all next week. It's my college spring break and I'll be cut off from the internet for the entire week. I should have something good for you guys when I get back though.

On with the story…

ZZZ

Warm sunlight streamed in the window, falling across the face of the sleeping girl; her eyes scrunched up slightly, as she tried to keep hold of the last vestiges of sleep. Sam started to roll over to bury her face in the pillow, but a weight on her stomach stopped her. Opening her eyes slowly, she was met by the electric blue eyes of a large white cat, which upon seeing her awake, began to purr loudly.

"What are you doing lying on my stomach?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. The cat meowed and stood, walking along her chest until he could rub his face against hers. "Quit trying to be cute," she groaned, pushing the insistent cat back with one hand, "I'm not buying into it."

The cat meowed indignantly and jumped onto the floor beside the mattress, sitting down to wait for her to get up. She looked at him, one eyebrow raised, "Are you waiting on me to get up?" The cat meowed, his head bobbing up and down. "You're a weird cat," she sighed, getting out of bed and getting dressed. It was only then that she realized that Danny wasn't in the room.

"Where did he get to?" she wondered aloud.

Meowing loudly, the cat ran to the closed door that lead to the hallway and patted his paw against it as if to answer her question.

"So you understand English?" she questioned the cat as she opened the door and began to head down stairs, Artemis right behind her, "And why don't you look ghostly now? You definitely did last night when we found you in the attic." Sam chuckled slightly to herself; here she was questioning a ghost cat, who showed no signs of being able to answer with anything more than a meow. 'I must be going crazy,' she decided firmly, 'Living in Amity for so long must have warped my brain.'

Heading down the stairs, the cat hot on her heels, she took a deep breath; the smell of assorted breakfast foods wafted into her nose and she smiled, Danny had been learning to cook from Jazz. Walking into the kitchen she smiled at Danny minding two pans on the stove; coming up behind him she peeked over his shoulder. In one pan was a few sunny-side up eggs and in the other was an already finished vegetable stir-fry.

"Wow, I'm impressed," she smiled, her chin coming to rest on his shoulder, "Did Jazz teach you some vegetarian dishes or something?" She pointed at the Stir-fry.

"I asked her to," he answered turning off the burners, and beginning to scoop their breakfasts out onto some plates that they had bought the day before.

Danny handed her plate to her and both went to sit at their new table. As soon as Sam was seated Artemis leapt onto her lap and curled up, purring loudly. "This cat really seems to like me," Sam said off handedly as she scratched one of the white cat's soft ears. With her other hand she picked up her fork and took a bite of her breakfast, "This is really good Danny!"

"Thanks," he smiled, taking a bite of his eggs, "I was worried that it wouldn't turn out right, it's the first time that I ever made it without Jazz looking over my shoulder."

"Well its great," she smiled taking another bite, "I'll have to remember to thank Jazz for teaching you to cook, next time I talk to her."

Danny was about to respond when Artemis suddenly leapt off of Sam's lap and began to hiss, his back arched and all his hair standing on end.

"Settle down my friend," a soft feminine voice called as the petite, pale blue skinned form of Meia appeared, "I was simply coming to check on you." The cat immediately calmed and leapt back onto Sam's lap, once again purring contently.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon Meia," Danny said, addressing the Spirit who smiled widely at him and Sam.

"I just wanted to make sure that Artemis was getting along with your partner," she smiled at the cat who was trying vainly to cuddle with the black haired girl who was not paying attention to him, "But it is obvious that the other spirits and I needn't have worried, he seems to absolutely adore her, which is quite rare in itself. That cat is very picky with whom he befriends, and it is rare that he is as kind to those who we send him to watch over. He always does his job, but normally not this enthusiastically." A faint giggle escaped the Spirits lips as the cat threw himself onto his back on Sam's lap, purring and rubbing his face against her stomach.

"I'm just as surprised as you that he likes me," Sam said, finally giving into the cat who was begging for attention, and scratching his head, "Cat's don't normally like me."

"Well he is not a normal cat as you may have noticed," Meia giggled, her face taking on a very girlish appearance as her smile broadened, "He possesses the ability to disguise his ghostly appearance in the daylight, and he is exceptionally strong, though he doesn't look it when he behaves like a kitten." The cat immediately stopped what he was doing and gave the Spirit a dirty look, which caused the woman's giggles to escalate into full out laughter. Narrowing his eyes, Artemis turned away from Meia and continued to cuddle with Sam.

"Well I better be going," Meia said, finally suppressing her giggles, "I can't leave Reggie with the Spirit of Brotherhood, my eldest son Ronald, for too long. They get into arguments quite often as all siblings do." Looking off to the side for a second, her eyes seeming to loose focus before she turned back to them, "Plus the movers will be here soon with your things and it would not be good for me to be around when they do." And with a puff of smoke, she was gone.

"Well that was odd," Danny commented, looking at the spot that had been occupied by the spirit only moments before.

"Being visited by spirits is better than always having to chase ghosts around all the time," Sam answered, going back to her breakfast.

"Sure is," Danny answered, finishing his eggs and taking his dishes to the kitchen.

"Hey," she called after him, "Since you cooked, I'll do dishes! Just pile them in the dishpan with some warm soapy water and I'll take care of them when I'm done eating."

"Alright," he called, as the sounds of dished and water going into the dishpan could be heard. Sam finished her breakfast, and after sitting Artemis on the floor she headed to the kitchen with her dishes, the cat hot on her trail. She had barely begun washing up when the doorbell rang.

"I can see the moving van," Danny said, peering out the kitchen window, "I'll go show them were to put everything." Turning to the cat he pointed at him, "Keep an eye on her Artemis, and make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Shut up Danny," she laughed throwing a dishrag at him which he easily dodged as he headed towards the front door.

As soon as Danny was out of the room, Artemis walked to the doorway and sat down in the middle of it, acting very much like he was guarding Sam. Sam shook her head at the cat and went back to washing dishes while Danny dealt with the movers. She was glad that he had volunteered to show the movers where the stuff went, she really didn't feel up to it, and she suddenly began to feel a little tired.

'I hope that I'm not coming down with something,' she thought as she continued to wash the dishes.

ZZZ

A/N: I kind of used this chapter to introduce some little things that I'll be dealing with more thoroughly in later chapters. I hope that you guys like it, because y'all are the absolute best and I'd hate to disappoint any of you. I won't be able to post at all next week because of spring break, but I should have some good stuff for you after that.

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	15. A Friend in Need

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 15: A Friend in Need**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

I am so sorry for this chapter, I had seriously planned on writing a bunch over spring break but so much crap happened to me, it's unreal. First my dad borrowed my laptop and took it to Louisiana with him for some big engineering project, next the cows got loose, then I got a really bad sunburn while I was working my mare, then the bumper nearly got ripped off my truck when we had to pull our tractor out of the mud. It is literally agony to just be sitting her typing with this damn sunburn, but I want to get a chapter out to all you wonderful readers, you guys totally make the pain worth while.

ZZZ

Ringing. Where was the damn ringing coming from? She prayed that she wasn't imagining things again; it was the first weak of August, and they had been in the house over a month yet she still sometimes thought she heard clocks or phones that had been in her family's home in Amity. Sam opened one eye and peered around the darkened bedroom trying to find the source of the annoying noise. Finally her eyes landed on the phone on the bedside table, whoever was calling was going to get an earful. Pulling herself free of Danny's grip she crawled over to the side of the bed and looked at the illuminated caller ID screen, the name 'Tucker' glowing back at her.

"Danny wake up," she gave him a shake, "Tucker's calling." Danny sat up with a grumble and Sam hit the speakerphone button.

"What do you want Tuck?" Danny asked yawning, "It's like 4 in the morning."

"Dude sorry," the boy apologized, "I totally forgot all about us being in different time zones."

"It's alright Tucker," Sam replied, reclining against Danny as Artemis climbed onto her lap after materializing out of thin air, "So what's up?"

"We got big problems down here guys," Tucker sighed, and the two knew him well enough to know that he was rubbing his head in frustration, "Big ghostly problems. There's some kind of poltergeist haunting the computer lab and we can't get any work done with him there. I think its one of the older Professors that died a week or so ago, he was obsessed with this project and I think that it was his unfinished business, but he's doing more harm than good. If he keeps this up much longer the projects funding will be cut and all of us working on it will loose our scholarships. The Dean of Computer Sciences seems to think that it's one of us messing up and we're making up stories to keep ourselves out of trouble."

Tucker let out a frustrated groan, "I've tried to take care of him myself with the some of the gear that I have left from high school, but he's a sly one. I just can't get him."

"What can I do?" Danny asked, now completely awake, "I'm all the way in Colorado."

"Well if you'll help us, me and a couple of my fellow tech geeks can get you a plane ticket to come out this after noon, and one to get you back as soon as possible." Typing could be heard in the background, "One of the guy's sisters is a stewardess, he got a hold of her and she said she could help us out. Everyone got all excited when I said that I was friends with a Fenton. Apparently your parent's reputation is much better outside of Amity."

Danny chuckled, "It's hard to get a good grip on just how strange my family can be unless you've lived in the same town as them."

"So can you help?" Tucker asked his voice as close to pleading as Sam and Danny had ever heard it.

"Yeah," Danny sighed, "But I'll have to be quick about it. Classes start in a week and I don't like the idea leaving Sam all by herself in Spirit Haven."

"I'll be fine," the girl groused, crossing her arms over her chest and shooting him a dirty look, "I can take care of myself and I have Artemis for back up."

"Who's Artemis?" Tucker asked confused.

"He's Sam's crazy ghost cat," Danny said as the white cat in question lifted his head from Sam's lap and shooting him a dirty look mirroring that of the girl scratching him, "He acts like a guard dog. Some spirit sent him here to keep the trouble making ghosts out of our house after I didn't toast her kid when he was causing trouble outside the Super Store."

"Sam and a cat," Tucker chuckled, "Now that's not something that I would have expected."

"It's true though," Danny smiled, resting his head on Sam's bare shoulder.

"I believe ya," the boy replied laughingly, "Now let me get a hold of my friend and get those tickets set up. I'll call you when I have the exact details, but expect to leave later today."

"Alright," Danny yawned, a sudden wave of tiredness washing over him, "Talk to you later Tuck."

"Bye guys."

"Bye Tuck," Sam hit the button on the phone to end the call before slumping back down into the bed. It didn't take long for either of them to fall back to sleep.

ZZZ

"Do you have your passport?"

"Yes."

"Your Ticket?"

"You were there when I picked it up," he laughed.

"Just making sure that you didn't loose it. What about your wallet?"

"Yes."

"Your cell phone and charger?"

"For the millionth time yes!" Danny through his hands in the air in exasperation, "I also have a couple changes of clothes, my tooth brush, and all my assorted gear. You helped me pack, you know that I have everything."

"Just checking," the girl giggled at him as she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a quick kiss, "I want to make sure you're prepared."

"Well don't worry, I'm plenty prepared," he pulled her into a hug and smiled down at her.

"You better come back in one piece," she buried her face into his chest as she hugged him tightly.

"I will," he replied softly.

"Flight 297 from Denver International to the Virgin Islands is now boarding." The intercom blared.

"I'll be back as quickly as I can," he smiled at her.

"Ok," she forced a smile, "I guess that it's a good thing that we both registered for classes early, or else this little trip would really mess stuff up."

"With you getting me of my lazy butt to do stuff, I don't have to worry about waiting to the last minute," he leaned down giving her a soft kiss, "You behave while I'm gone. No wild parties or anything."

"I'll see you when you get back Danny," her lip started to quiver as a nervous knot formed in her stomach, "Just be careful."

"I will," he replied as he turned and began to make his way to where the flight was loading.

Turning to the airport exit, Sam began to head to her car, she feared that if she staid there any longer she would begin to cry. And she hated crying. "Why am I getting so emotional?" she questioned herself out loud as she left the building, "I cried this morning when I broke a plate while doing dishes for crying out loud!"

Opening the car door she got in and slumped back into her seat. "I just need to relax," she told herself firmly, "I'm just getting stressed over nothing."

ZZZ

A/N: This chapter turned out better then I thought it would, but I'm ending it her because I can't stand the excruciating pain of my sunburn any longer. I hope you like it, and the next chapter is probably the one that a lot of people have been waiting for. I also apologize for having skipped ahead in time a bit in this chapter, but I wanted to get the plot moving along a little faster.

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	16. Realizations and Revelations

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 16: Realizations and Revelations**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it though I wish I did.

Alright here is the chapter that I'm sure everyone was waiting for. I know that I couldn't wait to write it. It'll bring a lot of things together, and hopefully it will propel us into some more action packed chapters in the near future. For my muses have finally returned, and my sunburn is gone. Thank the lord!

I made this chapter longer, to try and make my dear friend Gecko Osko happy, well happier. I know how much you love long chapters so here's this stories longest chapter to date, just for you and all my lovely readers who have patiently put up with pathetically short chapters for far too long! Now hopefully I can keep writing long chapters, though if things get busy again they'll probably get short again, but I'd rather update regularly with short chapters that will keep me writing than be gone for several months because I lost inspiration in the middle of a huge chapter, because I used to do that a lot.

I love y'all to pieces, so on with the story…

ZZZ

Running had always been calming to her, and now was no exception. Loosing ones self in the wind whipping past you as you were heading nowhere in particular was one of the most peaceful things that she had ever experienced. It seemed like as soon as she donned her black shorts and tank top that the problems of the world seemed a little less serious, and when she pulled on her running shoes they no longer seemed to matter. Smiling into the wind, she glanced back at her unlikely running mate. A few feet behind her, the furry white form of Artemis was bounding along with her; the cat had almost seemed appalled when she was preparing to leave the house alone, and as soon as she had opened the front door, he had shot outside like a rocket and proceeded to follow her on her run.

Several of her neighbors looked at her oddly as she passed, undoubtedly because of the cat running with her, but she didn't care, she was used to being looked at strangely. She had spent most of junior high perfecting a look that would draw those kind of strange looks, so they were nothing new. Rounding the corner she continued out into the park, leaving the path she reveled in the feeling of the spongy ground beneath her shoes instead of hard pavement.

She was so relaxed in fact that she didn't hear the warning howl from Artemis, nor did she see the glowing tentacle shoot out of the bushes at her from her right side. An involuntary scream escaped her as she was slammed into the tree, more tentacles joining the first to hold her in place. Artemis snarled and dove at the green tentacles, biting down hard on one of them, only to be batted away by another, and sent sprawling into a nearby tree, falling to the ground limply.

"So what do we have here?" asked the manly voice of the human body that all the tentacles were emerging from, "The residents of Spirit Haven are seldom foolish enough to venture into my park."

"Who are you!" Sam snapped, struggling against her bonds, her face the picture of rage.

"Such fire within you," the man chuckled, coming closer to her, his red trench coat rustling around him as he moved. A green hand covered in rings reached out and caught her face, "And you are quiet lovely for a human. What is your name?"

"I asked you first asshole!" she tried to pull her face away but his grip tightened.

"That is no way for a lady to talk," he shook his head in disdain, his long black braid swishing against the back of his jacket at the movement, "Especially when I have her at my mercy."

Narrowing her eyes, Sam clamped her mouth shut; she needed to be smart about this. She didn't have any ghost hunting gear with her so she was on her own, and brute strength was not her forte; she had to out think him.

"Not talking now are we?" the ghost released her chin and began to trace a finger along her jaw line, his other hand coming up to stroke his goatee in thought, "Then I suppose that I shall have to fill the silence." A smirk crossed his face as he continued, "I am Darius, the Lord and Spirit of Forests, and I am not as kind as the other Spirits that call this damnable town their home." He paused, a devious glint in his eye, "Though many a beautiful maiden such as yourself have found me quite agreeable." His fingers left her cheek and began to trace down her neck.

"Get off of me," she growled, her violet eyes flashing with anger.

"More of that fire," he grinned, "If you keep showing me that lovely fighter's spirit of yours I might never let you leave."

A growl suddenly erupted from a nearby tree, and both turned their heads to see Artemis struggling to his feet. His eyes were glowing hotly and his fur was standing on end; suddenly a wave of blue fire swept over the cat and in seconds a mighty white lion stood in his place.

Darius's eyes widened in shock, and the lion took a step forward. Artemis opened his powerful jaws, as if in preparation of a roar, but instead, something quiet different floated out of his mouth. "You will drop her Darius." Sam's eyes widened in shock as the lion continued, "This girl, her partner, and their home is under the protection of the Spirit of Motherhood, and as you well know, she is a spirit that should not be crossed."

"Artemis I had no idea," the spirit stuttered, releasing Sam and backing away slowly, "Mother told us nothing about the humans that she was protecting, only that we were to not seek out the Halfling that has recently appeared in town. We were all in a tizzy about him almost attacking Reggie, but we would never disobey her!"

"I do not believe you Darius," Artemis growled, taking a few steps closer, "You always were a liar, and I have never known you to ever unquestioningly follow your mother's orders. Or care about the well being of any of you numerous siblings."

"So maybe I was lying," Darius pouted as Artemis moved to Sam's side and sat down beside her, "It isn't the first time."

"Nor will it be the last, I am sure," the lion looked on the spirit haughtily, "But I warn you, if you come after her or the Halfling, ever again, I will kill you regardless of you being the Mistress's son."

Darius floated into the air, coming to a rest just below that tree's canopy, "You're so protective of this one." He chuckled, "Trying to make up for you past failure Artemis?"

"You will not speak of that!" the roaring of the lions voice shook the forest as he jumped to his feet and stared up at the spirit with nothing short of unwavering hate.

"Did I hit a soft spot with the big kitty?" Darius taunted, his voice sounding like one a person would use with a small child, but it hardened with his next words, "Don't take your frustration out on me, it's not my fault that you were to weak to protect the last girl. Come to think of it, I believe that her bones still reside where she was killed. If I'm not mistaken, she still has that blasted necklace around her neck."

"Shut up!" Artemis bellowed, leaping into the air, trying to catch a hold of the spirit taunting him.

"Mother gave you one duty and you can't even manage that," the spirit continued to gloat, "Protect the one in possession of the necklace so that people who seek to use it for evil can't get to it. But the ones seeking it killed her anyway…" he chuckled, "Right under your nose too. It did surprise them though when they couldn't approach the body to retrieve what they were after."

Sam watched, intranced, as Artemis took another leap at the spirit, his voice becoming harsh from yelling, "Just shut up!"

"In fact no one has been able to approach the body to retrieve the necklace, and that wench was killed over a hundred years ago…"

Without warning, Artemis leaped again, catching the spirit by his trench coat and throwing him to the ground. In seconds the lion was on top of him, snarling in his face, "Give me one good reason why I should not kill you where you lay!" Darius whimpered, but said nothing.

Artemis roared again and prepared to grab the spirits throat with his jaws when a gentle hand touched his shoulder. "He's not worth it Artemis," Sam said softly, causing the lion to stop dead in his tracks, "He's just a miserable bastard, who wants everyone to suffer like he is." The lion bowed his head and backed away from the terrified spirit, and with a flurry of flames he transformed back into a house cat.

Bending over, Sam picked him up, "Let's go home Artemis." The cat just meowed in agreement.

The walk home was a long one, it wasn't until this moment that Sam truly realized how far she had ran that morning. People were once again shooting her strange looks as she passed, but as always she paid them no mind. Finally her house came into view and she sighed, it felt really good to be home after what had happened in the park. Taking the chain off of her neck that held her key, she unlocked the door and headed inside, sitting the cat down before kicking off her shoes. Heading into the living room she through herself down on the plush carpet and closed her eyes. Seconds later a furry face could be felt rubbing on her cheek and she opened her eyes, turning her attention to the cat.

Scratching him softly on the head she spoke, "So you could speak all this time and you never said anything?" He meowed as he bobbed his head up and down. Looking at him quizzically she continued, "Can you only speak when you're a lion?" Once again the cat meowed and bobbed his head in affirmation. Groaning she put her hands over her eyes, rubbing at them in frustration. "This would be a lot easier if you'd just transform and talk to me," her muffled voice came from behind her hands.

Stepping a few feet away from her Artemis was once again engulfed in blue flame, which despite its heat didn't burn anything around him. Laying down, and giving his long, flowing mane a shake, Artemis finally spoke, "What is it that you would like to know?"

Peaking out from behind her hands at the lion she spoke, "I want to know everything. I'm so tired of people knowing more about what's going on around me than I do!"

"Very well," Artemis nodded, "I was created by the Spirit of Motherhood long ago, with the permission of the Spirits of Wisdom, Courage, and Honor, to guard those who possessed a specific item of power should they ever venture into Spirit Haven. It was their fear that the younger spirits would seek out these items to become all powerful, and these first four viewed it as their duty to maintain the balance of power."

She sat up suddenly, looking the big cat in the eyes, "You mean the Bloigh Crð Croi!"

"Yes," he nodded slowly, "Nearly a hundred years ago another resident of this town possessed one and it was my duty to guard her from the other spirits, but something dark and evil came for her. I was no match for it." He bowed his head as tears began to build in his electric blue eyes. "They drug her to the room beneath the town clock tower and killed her, but when they tried to take the pendant from her body it wouldn't allow them anywhere near. No one has ever been able to remove it."

Sam stroked the lion's face softly as tears spilled over his muzzle, "But then why are you protecting me if it is your duty to protect the one who possesses the Bloigh Crð Croi. Shouldn't you be watching out for Danny?"

"That is what I originally thought, but my Mistress instructed me to watch over you," the lion shifted his weight slightly, as if trying to find a way to broach an uncomfortable topic, "It is common knowledge among us that only a female can wield the pendants powers."

"Yeah, a female of the family line that first owned the pendant," Sam growled, annoyed by the now smug look on the lion's face.

"Yes," Artemis smiled a strange, toothy lion grin, "I know that. But you see," he stood slowly, "Your mate may be the current owner of the pendant, but within you is the pendant's next owner."

"What?" Sam choked out, all the blood draining from her face, "Please tell me that you don't mean what I think you mean!"

"I do," he said solemnly.

"This can't be happening," Sam pulled herself into a sitting position, drawing her knees to her chest and pressing her face into them, "How can you possibly know that I'm…?" she couldn't force herself to say the word.

"It is," the lion moved to her side and sat down, allowing her to lean weakly against him, "Did it ever strike you as odd that the first time you and your mate came together, neither of you had any thought of precautions, when every other time you have been so careful."

Sam blushed, burying her face deeper into her knees.

"It was the pendant's influence," Artemis said softly, "It has a mind of its own, and it does everything within its power to guarantee that the family line it belongs to is continued. And as to how I know, you forget that my Mistress is the Spirit of Motherhood, she knew the instant that it happened, and she told me so that I could better protect you and your mate."

"I was the one who suggested that he bring the pendant with him when we drove instead of packing it away with his things," she murmured softly, as she brought her face up and rested her chin on her knees, "I didn't want a ghost to come along a steal it. It was all Danny had left of his grandmother."

"You did right," Artemis assured, "Had the pendant been stolen it would mean catastrophe. The one who stole it might not be able to wield it, but it would bring him one step closer to having all five."

"You know who's after the pendant!" Sam's eyes got wide as she turned to face Artemis.

"Yes," he sighed, "But I can not say. It is forbidden."

"Why not!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and glaring at the lion, "This is me and Danny's lives this whole pendant thing is messing with! Why can't you tell me who's after it so we can stop him before it's to late?"

"The spirits are not supposed to interfere, and we are already pushing it as it is. There are things out there that would destroy us if we mess with the affairs of humans anymore than we already have. Clockwork is already in grave danger by telling us what he has of the future," Artemis laid down dejectedly, "We are helping as much as we can, but there is only so much that we can do. The rest is up to you and your mate."

Screaming in frustration Sam stormed up the stairs and into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Tears of aggravation began to stream down her face and with a resolute turn of her wrist, she locked the door behind her. She knew that Artemis could still get in, he was a ghost cat after all, but locking the door made her feel a little bit better.

She just needed to be alone to think.

Stalking into the bathroom and slamming that door shut as well, she stripped off her clothes and stood in front of the full length mirror on the back of the door. Tentatively her hands came to rest palm down on her lower abdomen as she watched her reflections actions in the mirror. Could it really be possible? Could she be…? She couldn't even think the word, let alone say it.

But the more she thought about it, the more real the possibility became. They hadn't used protection that first time, though they had remembered every other time since then, and that had been at the beginning of June. It was now mid-August. She began to quake as the hands over her stomach clenched into fists, she couldn't remember the last time that she had had her period. Moving to the sink she dropped to her knees in front of it, pulling open the cabinet she rifled through the contents. All she found was an unopened box of Tampons, and an unopened bag of pads.

How could she have not realized this sooner? How could she have been so stupid?

Shaking her head she stood slowly and moved to the shower, turning on the water. A nice long, hot shower would help her calm down, and then she could think about everything logically.

ZZZ

Circling the campus for the third time, Danny shook his head and landed in a nearby grove of trees before transforming back and heading for the computer science building where he had left Tucker. He walked into the building and headed for the lab that Tucker had said he would be in; he had been patrolling nonstop since he got there and all he wanted to do was take a break.

"I couldn't find anything Tuck," he said as he entered the lab, and plopped into a chair next to his friend, "Either this poltergeist is really tricky or someone really is trying to sabotage the project."

"He's just really tricky," Tucker answered still typing furiously on the computer, "I've seen him a couple of times, so I know he isn't just someone's cover story."

"Then why can't I sense him?" Danny replied, leaning back as far as he could in the chair without toppling it.

"I don't know," he answered, pausing his furious typing for a minute, "Maybe he's to new to set of you ghost sense."

"Could be right," Danny sighed, "I've never dealt with a newbie before, all the ones back in Amity were already pretty well established by the time I came around."

"Then I guess that we just got to wait for him to come to us," the boy concluded, resuming his typing, "So how's everything with you and Sam?"

"Fine, I guess," Danny gave the boy a questioning look, slightly suspicious of the sudden change of topic, "What makes you ask? You've talked to us a bunch on the phone since we all moved; you've known us long enough that you should have us pretty well figured out just by having a quick phone conversation."

"Well," Tucker got a devious smile on his face, "Every time I call in the middle of the night, because of these damn time zones, I seem to wake you guys up, and your both right there by the phone."

Danny blushed, knowing very well what the other boy was talking about, though he wasn't going to admit it out loud, "What are you talking about?" His voice was nervous and Tucker immediately knew that he was covering.

"Don't play innocent with me, man," Tucker laughed, "I know what's going on. You and Sam are sleeping together."

"So what," Danny tried his best to hide his embarrassment as he spoke.

"It's really nothing," the boy shrugged nonchalantly, "I just have some more money to collect from some of our high school classmates."

"You're terrible Tuck," Danny shook his head, "You're lucky that Sam's not here, she'd kick your butt."

"I wouldn't have said anything if Sam was here," Tucker laughed as he leaned closer to his computer monitor, squinting at an equation that he had just entered, "I have learned over the years just what I can say in front of each of you so that I either don't have a size 6 combat boot shoved up my ass, or an angry halfa haunting my every move."

Danny began to laugh but stopped suddenly as a chill ran up his back and the cackling of an old man filled the air. "I guess you're right about my ghost sense not being able to pick up newbies," Danny groaned as the figure of a pale green old man materialized in front of him. Looking around quickly to be sure that the coast was clear he transformed quickly and leapt into the air.

"Hey old and moldy!" he shouted, catching the ghosts attention.

The old man turned and fixed him with a cold glare, before turning back to the computers before him. Aggravated by the ghost seemingly viewing him as no threat at all, Danny zipped towards him and punched the ghost squarely in the jaw. The old man was thrown back several feet by the blow and turned to face Danny, his eyes narrowed, and his lips pursed in irritation. "Leave me alone," the old man growled, floating back towards the computers, "I have work to do."

"Yeah," Danny said sarcastically, "Messing up the hard work of others must be a full time job."

"You don't understand," he snarled, his withered hands clenching into angry fists, "I have spent my whole life working on this project, and now a bunch of children are going to get the credit for completing what I started!"

"Dude," Tucker groaned, "Everyone knows that this is your damn project, and your getting full credit for it. Me and the others are only working on it because they're giving us a scholarship for completing 'your' work, so that 'your' findings can be published."

"You lie!" the man raged, pointing an accusing finger at Tucker, "All of you just want my glory!"

Danny began to reach slowly for the Modified Fenton Porta-Portal that he hand brought with him. Tucker caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and continued to distract the old man, "None of us even want our names listed on the findings as lab assistants. This project is whack! Your just reaffirming a bunch of stuff that people have known for years!"

"NO!" the man shouted angrily, "This is an innovation! It will change…." But he didn't get a chance to finish, because a glob of Porta-Portal goop hit him and he was zapped into the ghost zone.

"Good job on interference," Danny told Tucker as he landed and transformed back.

"It was nothing," the boy shrugged, "I had always heard that this guy was really arrogant. He wouldn't even come into the lab while we were in here entering his stupid data. I had never really even seen him until after he died."

"And now you don't have to see him again," Danny said as he yawned loudly.

"You tired man?" Tucker questioned, eyeing his friend worriedly.

"A little," Danny yawned again, "Ok, maybe a lot."

"You should stay tonight and get some rest and then head back to Colorado in the morning," Tucker said, putting his hands on his hips and doing the best Jazz impression he could manage.

"Dude quit it, you're acting like my sister," Danny laughed tiredly.

"That was the point," Tucker smiled slightly, patting his friend on the shoulder, "You only ever listen to two people when they tell you to rest, or take it easy. Jazz and Sam are the only ones that I have ever seen that are able to get you to take a break and you really need some sleep, so I figured why not imitate your sister."

"All your missing is the red hair and the baby bump," Danny chuckled, rubbing his eyes in an effort to stay awake.

"Shut up man," Tucker groused, crossing his arms across his chest in mock irritation.

"But seriously," Danny said, "I really should be getting back; I can sleep on the plane. I don't like leaving Sam alone like this."

"Over-protective much?" Tucker raised an eyebrow.

"Come on Tuck," Danny sighed, rubbing his face with his hands, "Spirit Haven is full of ghosts, and even though I know that she can take care of herself I'm still worried."

"It's because you love her man," Tucker said knowingly as he began to lead a now oddly silent Danny out of the computer lab. Tucker's eyes widened as he stopped his best friend in the middle of the hall and spun him to face him, "Don't tell me that you two are still doing that bullshit with not saying that you love each other, because its 'been made meaningless by overuse'!" he said, using air quotes around the part that was nearly verbatim from what both his friends had said to him months ago.

Danny didn't reply, and Tucker threw his hands into the air in exasperation, "You two are such idiots! Even I know that saying that you love a person is only meaningless if you don't actually mean it!"

"I never thought about it that way," Danny said softly, a half smile coming to his lips.

"And you two claim that I'm the stupid one when it comes to relationship!" Both of Tucker's hands clamped down on his red beret as if he was trying to rip out the hair underneath it.

"I never said that you didn't know how to have a relationship," Danny stated, "I only said that you didn't know how to get one."

"Man shut up and lets go get you a plane ticket so you can get home," Tucker started back down the hall.

Danny smiled and shook his head. Some things would never change.

ZZZ

Everything was going to change, she knew that much for a fact. Stepping into the hot shower she let the water beat down on her as she tried to simply clear her mind and relax, but no matter how hard she tried, her mind would always wonder back to one thing. Looking down past her bare breast she look at her stomach; it was flat and tight, just the kind of stomach you would expect an eighteen year old girl to have. No one expected to see an eighteen year old girl, stomach bulging with nine months of development, her hands resting on her aching back as she shuffled around the grocery store. Shaking her head, she covered her face with her hands as more tears began to build in her eyes.

How was she going to tell Danny?

The tears began to spill over her cheeks as she slumped down into the bottom tub, letting the water continue to beat on her as she sat there, consumed in thought. She was terrified, worried and a thousand other things all at once, but much to her surprise she found that regret wasn't one of those thousand things bouncing around in her head. Placing a hand over her stomach, an inexplicable calm suddenly rushed over her, and she found her thoughts becoming much calmer, and much less frightening. It didn't make any sense how her mind set had suddenly shifted, but she wasn't going to waist whatever moments of clarity she had pondering how she had gotten them.

Gypsy had warned her in her dream that this was going to happen, she just hadn't paid the old woman's warning much mind, she had just decided to go with the flow and take things as they came. Everything had seemed so much easier a few months ago, and dealing with things as they happened has seemed like the best course of action at the time. She sighed; she supposed that that was what she should do now as well. Taking a deep breath she felt herself calm even further. She had always wanted to be a mother, just not right away.

But now she was going to be one whether she liked it or not.

She briefly wondered if Jazz had reacted like this when she had found out that she was pregnant. Just the thought of the red headed girl made her want to get out of the tub and call her, to tell her everything and ask for advice, but she stopped herself. Danny needed to be the first one she told; he had more right to know than anyone. What was now growing inside of her was just as much his as it was her own. She could call Jazz once Danny got home and she had a chance to talk to him.

A faint smile spread across her lips as all her problems seemed to go down the drain with the bath water; she was going to be a mother.

ZZZ

It was late when Danny finally got into Denver International, so he decided that instead of calling and waking up Sam, he would just call for a cab to take him back to Spirit Haven. The ride wasn't a very long one, and soon they cab was pulling in front of the house. Danny got out, and paid the driver, before grabbing his duffle bag and heading up the walkway. Looking up at the house he noticed that the light was still on in the bedroom. "Sam must still be awake," he said to himself, slightly surprised that she was still up, she had been going to bed fairly early for the past week or so. Reaching the front door he unlocked it and went inside, closing and locking it behind him.

"Hey Sam!" he called up the stairs, "I'm home!"

There was no reply but he could hear Sam's music playing loudly. Shaking his head, a smile stretching across his lips, Sam was still the same girl he had known since they were little and she still liked playing her music loud. Climbing the stairs and heading down the hall, he stopped in front of the closed bedroom door, where Artemis was sitting, a very pissed look on his face. "What's gotten into you cat?" he asked, an eyebrow raised at the disgruntled feline. The cat simply stood up and stalked away. "O-o-k-a-ay," Danny drawled watching the cat head down the stairs in a huff, "What's gotten into him?"

Opening the door, Danny walked into the room, dropping his duffle bag by the door. Turning to Sam, who was standing in front of the mirror in a pair of low slung pajama pants and a tank top that she had hiked up so she could exam her stomach, he spoke, "Hey Sam, I'm home."

"Oh!" she turned around surprised, as she pulled her tank top down with embarrassment, "I didn't hear you come in!"

"That's because the music is so loud," he laughed as he turned down the volume on the stereo. "So why were you staring at your stomach in the mirror?"

"Um," she bit her bottom lip nervously as she struggled to string the right words together. "I…" 'God this is Danny!' she scolded herself mentally, 'Why can't I just tell him? Why won't the words just come out right?'

"What is it?" he asked, closing the distance between them quickly and taking her in his arms, "Did something happen?"

She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was really worried and she smiled slightly, "You might want to sit down for this."

"Alright," he said, the worry never leaving his eyes as he led her to the bed where both sat down slowly. "Now what's up?" His eyes were boring into her as if trying to search out what was bothering her and she fought the urge to look away.

"I'm going to tell you something," she said quietly, her nervousness making her stomach churn, "And you have to promise not to get angry or yell. Alright?"

His face paled, "Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?" His eyes flashed green, and he started to stand up, but Sam stopped him, forcing him to sit back down.

"It's nothing like that," she took his hands in her and closed her eyes as she bowed her head. It was now or never. "Danny, I'm pregnant."

"Is that all?" Danny sighed in relief, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly, being mindful not to crush her, "I thought that you had something bad to tell me with the way you were acting."

" 'Is that all?' " she repeated softly, her mind not fully processing what he had just said. "You mean you're not mad?" She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"How could I be mad?" he smiled, giving her a gentle squeeze, "I told you once what I would do if this happened, and I wasn't lying when I said that you mean the world to me and anything that we created together would mean just as much." He laughed slightly, snuggling his face into her hair, "I didn't just say all that stuff to get in your pants, you know."

Tears sprung to her eyes once again as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her words coming out in choked sobs, "Thank you for being so wonderful."

"It's my job," he replied kissing her neck softly, before nuzzling it with his nose, "God, I love you Sam."

She gasped as he said the very words to her that she least expected. She had always thought that those words were just meaningless pieces of language and she had heard Danny say much the same thing on several occasions, but suddenly she knew that they weren't as meaningless as she thought. The very words seemed to squeeze at her heart until she thought it would burst, because deep down she knew that he had meant what he said.

"I love you too," she murmured burying her face into his neck, suddenly feeling much better than she had in days.

ZZZ

A/N: The whole finding out that Sam was pregnant which from the reviews, was not a surprise to most of you, was actually based off of when one of my best friends found out that she was pregnant. I sat with her on the floor right outside her bathroom for two hours as she cried, and then all of a sudden she was all smiles when it finally sank in, and now I have a beautiful little niece, Kaydence Marie. Danny's reaction is also partially based off of when she told her fiancé that she was pregnant, and partially from what I set up in earlier chapters.

I hope y'all enjoyed it because you guys are freaking awesome and I'd hate to disappoint you.

See you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	17. Thinking, Telling, and Yelling

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 17: Thinking, Telling, and Yelling**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does.

Sorry I didn't post this on Sunday, but FFN was giving me trouble. I hope y'all like this chapter; I had a lot of fun working on it. I tried to keep this chapter light and humorous because the next chapter will likely be very dark, and possibly very long.

Now on with the story…

ZZZ

The sun would be rising soon, bathing the entire room in an early morning glow, but Danny was set on enjoying the last minutes of darkness with Sam's petite form resting securely in his arms. It had only been a few hours since she had told him that she was pregnant, and he had yet to be able to go to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he was going to be a father. True his first instinct had been to panic, but he had held it at bay for Sam's sake. Despite the smile that had been creeping onto her face since she had told him the news, he could tell that she was still scared, and honestly, so was he. But underneath all the fear and doubt that was welling up in his mind, he couldn't help the bright smile that seemed to have taken up permanent residence on his face, or the excitement welling in his stomach.

He was going to be a father. And not even the lecture that he knew he was going to get from Jazz and his parents, or all the screaming that he was sure would come from Sam's parents, could dampen his spirits. He knew that this was going to vastly complicate the two of them getting through college, and that things were not going to be as easy as they could have been.

But still the smile wouldn't leave his face.

All he wanted to do was fly into the air as high as he could get and scream to the whole world that they were having a baby. His arms however had a different idea and refused to release the girl who's back was pressed to his chest; the palms of his hands found their way to her stomach and he buried his face into her neck. There was no denying that this girl meant the world to him, and never before in his life had he ever been as happy as he was at that very moment.

And with a smile on his face, he finally fell asleep.

But only an hour and a half later he was awoken by Sam bounding out of bed, with more energy than should be possible for a girl who was two months pregnant and had only had, at the most, four hours of sleep. She almost seemed to be bouncing as she threw open the curtains and smiled out at the new day. Pulling a pillow over his face, Danny tried to recapture sleep, but groaned as he realized that he too, was wide awake.

"What's got you acting like a morning person?" Danny questioned, peaking out at her from under his pillow.

"Well we have a lot of stuff to do today so I figured I should get an early start," she stated matter-of-factly, "Classes start tomorrow, and we also need to talk to our parents, your sister, and Tucker."

"You want to tell everyone about the baby already?" he asked, surprised that she didn't want to put off telling her parents until the last possible moment.

"Well they all have a right to know," she answered stubbornly, the words that Danny's grandmother had said to her in that dream all those months ago still bouncing around in her head.

"Yeah," he answered, one eyebrow cocked as he looked at her strangely, "I just figured that you'd want to put it off a little while."

"I do," she answered as she tugged on some clothes that she pulled out of the dresser, "But I'd rather get it off my chest now then have to do it after classes have started and we're both really busy."

"Makes sense," he groaned as a pair of jeans and a shirt landed on his chest with a thump, "Who should we call first?"

"Jazz," Sam replied as she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth, "And then Tucker."

"So we work our way up to our parents," he said as he got up and began to pull on the clothes that she had thrown at him a moment before, "Sounds like a plan to me."

"So which of our parents are we going to tell first?" she called from the bathroom as she rinsed out her mouth.

"Mine," he replied easily, "Because if we tell your parents first, mine will here your mom scream and then they'll be pissed that they had to find out from your parents."

"Yeah," Sam giggled, coming out of the bathroom, "My mom is definitely going to scream, and she'll probably pass out as well."

"So do you want me to call Jazz now?" he asked, plopping down on the bed as Sam walked over and sat on his lap.

"Yeah," she sighed, "The sooner we start the sooner my mom will get to the Emergency Room after she passes out."

Turning on the speakerphone, Danny hit the speed dial number for Jazz and Gary's apartment. "Hello," Gary's voice came out of the speaker moments later.

"Hey Gary, is my sister there," Danny asked, his arms wrapping around Sam's waist as the girl began to fidget nervously.

"Yeah she's in the living room," Gary replied, "She's trying to learn how to knit, and it's probably about time I get her to take a break before she throws everything out the window." An exasperated growl could be heard then as the sound of a window being slammed open echoed across the phone line.

"Well there goes the knitting stuff she bought yesterday," Gary sighed, "Let me go get her."

"Hello," Jazz said a moment later.

"Hey Jazz," Danny said, his voice portraying just how nervous he had become in the short time that it had taken Gary to get Jazz.

"What's wrong?" her voice was immediately serious, and Danny gulped anxiously.

"Nothings wrong," Sam said, patting Danny's hand softly with her own, "We just have some great news for you guys."

"Oh my god you're pregnant!" Jazz shrieked excitedly.

"How did you know?" Danny asked, his face seeming completely devoid of color.

"I didn't," even though they couldn't see her, they knew that she was rolling her eyes, "But they way you guys were talking I knew that had to be it."

"Are you sure that you're not psychic, Jazz?" Sam giggled, at Danny's still stunned face.

"No," she laughed, "I've just gotten good at reading people."

"Well let's just hope that telling everyone else is this easy," Danny said shaking his head.

"Mom and Dad shouldn't be too bad," Jazz told him, "They've really started to like the idea of being grandparents. Mom actually flew up here last week to check on me."

"Wow, sounds like my parents are the only ones we really have to worry about," Sam chuckled dryly.

"I definitely don't envy you guys having to tell them about this," Jazz grimaced.

"They'll get over it," Sam replied.

"They really don't have a choice," Jazz stated plainly, "I should let you guys go, I know that you start classes tomorrow, and I'm sure that you have more people to call."

"Yeah," Danny answered, leaning his head against Sam's shoulder, "Talk to you later sis."

"Bye Jazz," Sam added.

"Bye you two and take care." A click could be heard as Jazz hung up.

"Well that went well," Danny said smiling.

"I figured that Jazz would be cool about it," Sam replied as she snuggled into Danny's embrace, "It would be kind of hypocritical for her not to be."

"Yeah, well let's call Tucker now," Danny reached out and dialed their friends number, "I'm sure that after this he's going to be spending the rest of the day collecting money."

"I'd be worried that he was coming down with some kind of horrible disease if he didn't have at least one bet running about this," Sam answered.

The phone rang a few more times before Tucker picked up, "Hello."

"Hey Tuck," Danny smiled, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Tucker replied, "I got an email from Valerie saying that she might be coming to San Hidalgo next semester, and that if she does she hopes that we can hang out some."

"That's good," Danny nodded, "Hey Sam and I got some news for you."

"Really," Tucker sounded interested, "What is it?"

"You should sit down for this," Sam advised, knowing just how prone to drama there friend was.

"How big could it be?" The boy asked sarcastically.

"I'm pregnant," Sam smiled, thoroughly pleased with the loud thump that echoed across the line as Tucker hit the ground.

"You guys are shitting me right?" Tucker asked, sounding very shocked to say the least, "This is like an early April fool's or something."

"Nope Tuck," Danny shook his head, "You're going to be an Uncle."

They're was silence on the other end of the line for a moment and the two looked at each other, wondering whether their friend had passed out or not, but a sudden shout confirmed that he hadn't. "This is fucking AWSOME!"

"I'm glad you're excited Tuck," Sam giggled, shaking her head slightly.

"Excited…!" the boy stuttered, "I'm… this is… This is so fucking awesome!"

"So how much money did you win on this one?" Danny asked, an eyebrow raised in amusement at his friend's inability to say more than a few words.

"Money…?" Tucker questioned before falling silent, "Holy crap! I so made a killing off of this bet!" the sound of papers could be heard as Tucker rooted around for something, "But you know who's making the most off this one?"

"Who?" Sam asked, surprised that someone had actually managed to make more than Tucker off of one of these stupid bets.

"Mr. Lancer," Tucker grinned widely, "He made the bet the day after graduation."

"Oh lord," Danny groaned, rubbing his face with his hands, "That's just weird."

"I know," Tucker agreed, "I got to call him and tell him that he won."

"Alright well we still have to call both of our parents so we'll let you go," Sam said, with a grin on her face.

"Bye Tuck."

"Bye you guys and take care," Tucker said excitedly before hanging up.

"Good old Tuck," Danny sighed, giving Sam a hug and snuggling her neck with his nose, "Count on him to make money on us going to have a baby."

"I'd be worried if he wasn't," Sam replied snuggling back.

"Now Lancer, that was a surprise," Danny laughed giving her a kiss on the neck.

"Hopefully he made enough money on this one to be able to pay off the debt he got from the bet he made with Mr. Dupree," Sam giggled, "It seems like everyone's making money off of us."

"Yep," he sighed, his eyes drifting to the phone of the bed stand, "Well I guess we put it off long enough. Let's call our parent's and get this over with."

Picking up the receiver, Danny dialed his parent's number, and pressed the receiver to his ear as he took calming breaths to keep himself from slamming the phone back down into its cradle. The phone rang three times before someone at Fenton Works picked up, and his mom's chipper voice floated across the phone, "Hello, Fenton Residence. Maddie Speaking."

"Hey mom," Danny said weakly, one of his hands seeking Sam's for strength.

"Oh hello honey," Maddie's grin was clearly evident in her words.

"Umm, mom?" Danny said almost questioningly, as though he was asking permission to speak, "I have something to tell you."

"What is it, sweetie?" she questioned, her voice becoming concerned at her son's dejected tone of voice, "Is there something wrong? Are you worried about classes starting tomorrow?"

"No, nothing's wrong," he sighed, "And I'm not worried about classes."

"Well what is it?" she prompted in her very best mothering tone.

"Promise not to be mad," he asked, as he squeezed Sam's hand tightly.

"I'm your mother, of course I won't be mad!" she chuckled, shaking her head at how progressively nervous her son was becoming.

"Well the thing is," he laughed nervously, "Sam and I are… " He took a deep breath, gathering all of his resolve to just get out what he had to say, "Sam's pregnant."

Complete and utter silence met his ear as his mother absorbed what he had just said; she was completely dumbstruck. Both of her babies were going to be parents. "How far along?" she managed to choke out, doing much better this time around than when she had learned about Jazz being pregnant.

"About two months," Danny relaxed greatly, glad that his mother hadn't started screaming right off the bat.

"Well," she started, trying her best to collect her wits, she didn't want to get Danny mad at her, but she still had to say what she needed to say. "I can't say that I'm proud, I would have hoped that the two of you would have had the common sense to use protection until after college when the two of you were married. But I guess that point is moot now." She chuckled slightly, beginning to feel a little more clear minded, "I can't believe that I'm going to be a grandmother twice within the span of a few months."

"I'm glad that you're taking this so well," Danny told his mother honestly.

"I'm honestly surprised that I'm taking it this well," she admitted, running a hand through her hair, "And I'm happy for you two. I just wish that you would have waited."

"I know," he replied seriously, "But things happen, and we have to take responsibility for our actions."

"When did you get so mature?" Maddie asked, dabbing away at the tears that were stinging her eyes.

"About 6 hours ago when I found out that I was going to be a father," he replied, smiling widely at Sam, who blushed prettily, and tried to hide her face in his shoulder.

"I suppose that I should let you go," Maddie said slowly, suddenly very excited about telling her husband about their second grandbaby, "I haven't heard Mrs. Manson scream yet so I guess that she hasn't found out yet."

"Alright mom," he smiled, "I love you, and I'll talk to you later."

"Bye sweetie."

The click of the Fenton Works phone disconnecting could be heard, and Danny turned to Sam, also hanging up the receiver in his hand, "I guess that it's your turn now."

"Yeah," she sighed. Taking a deep breath, Sam glared at the phone as if it was her worst enemy. She didn't want to do this, she'd do anything to not have to call her parents and tell them the news.

But she had to.

Picking up the receiver, she dialed her parent's number begrudgingly. It was now or never.

The ringing of the phone echoed in her ear, it was almost like she was an outsider listening in. A click was heard and her mother's voice floated out of the phone, "Hello, Manson residence."

Her voice caught in her throat, she hadn't expected her mother to pick up. She had figured that it would be one of the maids or the butler as it had been every other time she had ever called the house. But now, when she so desperately was wishing that one of the houses many servants would answer, it was her mother.

"Hello," her mother said again, slightly annoyed at the silence, "Is there anyone there."

"Oh hey mom," her voice sounded oddly calm, while she was internally panicking, "It's me. Sorry I didn't say something the first time you said hello, I have a lot on my mind."

"It's quite alright dear," the woman said happily, much to Sam's surprise, considering that her mother had spent the better part of the last 18 years sniping at her for even the smallest breach of etiquette. "So what's on you mind?"

Sam breathed in deeply, she had to say it all right then or else she'd never manage to get it all out, "Mom, Danny and I are living together and I'm pregnant." It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her chest, just saying those few words.

"What!" her mother stuttered for a moment before a bloodcurdling scream erupted from her, and the sound of her hitting the floor could be heard.

"Damn," Sam groaned, holding the phone away from her ear slightly, as she rubbed her face with one hand, "I knew that she was going to pass out."

The whirring of an electronic wheelchair could suddenly be heard as well as the scuffling noise of someone prying the receiver out of her mother's hand. "Hello Sam dear," her grandmother's loving voice making her smile, "I heard your mother scream and then saw her pass out. What did you tell her? I figure that either you got a tattoo, are dropping out of school, or you're pregnant." She paused, "So which one is it?"

Sam shook her head, "I'm pregnant Grandma."

"That's wonderful," the woman grinned excitedly, "It's that nice boy Danny's, isn't it?"

"Yes Grandma," she laughed softly.

"So how far along are you?" she asked, wheeling around Mrs. Manson's comatose form.

"Two months," Sam answered before mouthing the words, 'My Grandma,' to Danny, who was looking at her confused.

"So it'll be a March baby," the woman was positively glowing with happiness for her granddaughter, "This is so exciting!"

"Yeah," Sam replied softly as Danny's hands came to rest on her stomach, "I just wish that mom and dad could be as happy as you are, they're probably going to try and get another restraining order or cut my cash flow or something stupid like that."

"Don't worry about your parents, Sweetie," the old woman said smiling, "Your father may run the business, but I still control the assets. I'll make them behave themselves until they decide that they like the idea of being grandparents, even if I have to beat it into them!"

"What would I do without you Grandma?" Sam asked, tears forming in her eyes as she leaned back against Danny.

"I don't know dear," the woman replied, "Now I really must go. It can't be to good for your mother to be laying on the floor like that."

"Alright," Sam grinned, "Bye Grandma."

"Bye sweetie."

Hanging up the phone, Sam turned to Danny, as small grin on her face. "Boy am I glad that that's over."

Danny nodded in response and hugged her tightly, he knew that even though they had gotten past this one little obstacle, that things were far from over.

ZZZ

A/N: Well that's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. My muses struck with a vengeance today, so not only did I finish this chapter, but I also mapped out the rest of the story. Right now we're looking at 28 chapters total, so that means 11 more after this. I might either add more chapters in there, or combined some depending on where my muses take me. Updates may be a little sporadic for a while because I'm finishing up my Ag Record books so I can get my American Farmer FFA Degree, and I have a bunch of tests coming up, but never fear! I know exactly where I'm going with this now, so I won't leave you guys hanging.

I love y'all to pieces, and I'll see you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	18. Artemis's Story

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 18: Artemis's Story**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, only Artemis who is actually my cat, and the plethora of characters that I have made up.

Alright my lovelies, today is my birthday so here is my present to all of you! I figured what better way to celebrate my 19th birthday than by giving a new chapter to my favorite readers. I love y'all to death so here it is, the chapter that explains Artemis's dark past.

On with the story!

ZZZ

Moonlight spilled in through open windows, the light illuminating the front room and giving it an eerily blue haze. Across the room, atop a large black beanbag, a pure white cat lay sleeping, but saying that his sleep was peaceful would be a vast exaggeration. He was tossing and turning, and occasionally hissing in his sleep, but considering he nightmare that was assailing him, it was no surprise. These images of his past had often haunted him; they would pop up before his eyes at any given moment when he let his concentration slip. He had spent nearly a hundred years trying to dispel these horrible visions, but nothing would make them stop.

He had messed up, and nothing short of oblivion could save him from reliving these moments whenever he began to feel troubled.

_A handsome young man with long white hair crouched low before the ever young form of Meia, the Spirit of Motherhood. She was looking down at him with a smile on her pretty face, and a serene look in her big blue eyes, but the man simply bowed his head farther, feeling unworthy of having an audience with the youngest of the original four spirits. But not only that, she was the mother off all the other Spirits that had come after her, with the exception of himself._

"_I have a very important task for you Artemis," she said, her voice sounding very much like the sweet crooning of a mother to her child._

"_I am honored Mistress," he muttered, his electric blue eyes never leaving the floor._

_Ignoring the proprieties that her underling seemed to insist upon, she approached him and crouched down, catching his face in her hands and forcing him to look her in the eye, "This duty is the reason that I and the other original Spirits created you. Wisdom, Courage, Honor, and myself all took some of our own qualities and fused it into a marble body to make you the ideal Spirit of Protection, and now it has come time for you to fulfill you duties."_

"_Tell me what I must do," he replied softly, casting his eyes downward, refusing to meet her gaze despite the fact that she was holding his face level with hers._

"_A young woman has recently moved into the area. Her name is Gwen, and she possesses one of the Bloigh Crð Croi. We want you to guard her from anything that may try and take it from her," the woman told him firmly._

"_I will do as you ask," he replied, his voice sounding very meek, "But I have one question first."_

"_What is that?" she questioned kindly as one hand smoothed a stray white lock of hair behind his ear._

"_If she possesses the_ _Bloigh Crð Croi then why does she need protection," he asked, "Shouldn't it protect her from any danger?"_

"_It was her sister's before hers," Meia said sadly, "And after it is passed to one child, it will only work for that child and their descendants." The woman paused for a moment, "Her sister died only a few months ago, and as she had no children she gave the pendant to her sister. The pendant will never work again for anything other than itself, as it is now only capable of self preservation."_

"_I see," Artemis answered._

_Meia rose slowly to her feet, brushing invisible lint from the sheer fabrics that made up her gown before her hands settled on her abdomen which was swollen with pregnancy, "Wisdom has kindly agreed to take you to Gwen, as I am in no condition to do so."_

_With a nod, Artemis stood and turned to the Spirit of Wisdom who stood next to the open doors. The spirit smiled a sly smile that accompanied a knowing look as he glanced at the young white haired man beside him. It was enough to make a growl begin to surface in Artemis's throat, he hated it when Wisdom got like this. It always happened right after the spirit received a flash of the imminent future. It was quite aggravating to most when Wisdom would get that sly smile on his handsome face; the spirit was a well known lecher, so it wasn't surprising that most of his visions were very perverted._

_This spirit knew far too much about others personal matters for his own good._

The image before his eyes blended into a blur before reforming into the image of the small cottage that the Spirit of Wisdom had lead him to.

_The loud knocking echoed through the house and a petite redhead ran towards the door, wiping her soapy hands off on her cream colored apron before swinging open the large wooden front door._

"_Hello," she said politely as she looked at the two oddly dressed men on her doorstep, both of which seemed to be glowing eerily in the fading daylight, "May I help you?"_

_The shorter of the two men stepped forward slightly, brushing his raven locks out of oddly crimson eyes, a warm yet slightly lecherous smile plastered on his face, "My dear girl, we do not need your help, we are here to help you."_

"_What are you talking about?" she asked nervously, as she edged back towards one side of the door frame. As the last of the light faded away with the sun dipping below the horizon, she could see now that the glow she had thought she saw before was most definitely there, and was undeniably a pale blue. Both her mother and her sister had been spiritualists, so she knew exactly what these signs were indicating._

"_Well you see," the shorter man began, his eyes gazing to one side in thought as a hand came to rest on his chin, "We know that you possess the Bloigh Crð Croi, and that it's powers will not work for you since it was you sisters before yours, so we are here to offer you protection against some of the spirits in this town that are not quite as kind as we are."_

"_That's very kind of you," she plastered a fake smile on her face as her one hand grabbed her long bow and an arrow from her quiver, notching it quickly and holding the weapon menacingly before her, "But as you can see, even without the pendant's powers I can take care of myself."_

_The taller, white haired man chuckled, "That may work against creatures of flesh and blood, but it will not protect you from spirits, ghosts and the like."_

"_You want to bet me on that?" she challenged pulling the arrow tight and pointing it at him._

"_I never bet on a sure thing," he said simply._

_With a snarl, the girl loosed the arrow and watched, slightly stunned as it passed right through his chest without leaving a mark. "How did it not kill you!" her eyes widened as her hand barely managing to keep a firm grip on the bow._

"_I phased around it," he answered agitatedly, before turning to the spirit next to him, "I'll take care of this from here Wisdom, tell the Mistress that she had nothing to worry about."_

"_Will do Artemis," the man chuckled, "Just don't do anything that I wouldn't do!" With that he vanished._

"_May I come in?" he asked, sounding very tired all of a sudden._

"_I guess," she answered, realizing that she couldn't stop him even if she wanted to._

_Walking past her, Artemis moved over to her small table and sat down heavily in one of the chairs, "Please let me explain everything before you pass judgment." She nodded and he took a deep breathe before continuing, "I am Artemis, the Spirit of Protection, and it is my duty to protect sacred items, like the Bloigh Crð Croi, from spirits that may want to use it for darker purposes." He paused, "Now normally I would just keep watch and intervene when necessary, but seeing as how the pendants powers won't work for you, I have been forced to take a much more hands on approach in protecting it."_

_Gwen sat down in the chair across from him, "So you have to protect me to keep the pendant safe?"_

"_Yes," he answered monotonously._

"_So I assume that you're staying here?" she motioned to the building around them._

"_It would appear so."_

"_Well despite how gloomy you are, I welcome the company. I've been really lonely since my sister died."_

_She then flashed him a brilliant smile that caused his mind to temporarily become blank. 'How can a human girl make me feel like this?' he thought, slightly panicked as he fought that urge to place his hand over his heart to feel if it really was pounding as fast as it sounded in his ears._

The cat rolled over, a hiss escaping him as the scenes in his nightmare began to change.

_A beautiful red head stood before him, her green eyes flashing dangerously as she glared daggers at him; her petite hands came to rest on her slender hips as she continued to shoot a murderous glare at him. "Artemis," she snarled, "Why is it that every time I meet a nice young man you insist on running them off!"_

_Grinning sheepishly, one of his hands reached up to scratch the back of his head. "I have no idea what you are talking about," he said, feigning innocence the best he could._

"_Don't you dare lie to me!" she shouted, beginning to advance on him the chunk of emerald that was the Bloigh Crð Croi bouncing against her stomach as she stalked towards him, a finger pointed at his chest, "I know that you're the phantom lion that prowls Spirit Haven!"_

"_You are crazy," he grimaced crossing his arms over his chest, still hoping to deny her claims though he knew that he had been caught, "I have no idea what you are talking about."_

_The girl let out a frustrated scream and rubbed her face roughly with her hands, "You bastard!" She was positively shaking with rage now, "I can't believe how you treat me like I'm an idiot! I know that it was you who chased David off, as well as Luc and Damacies, who were only friends of mine! I've seen you transform! I know that you're the lion!"_

_His face blanched as white as his hair, "You saw?"_

"_Of course I saw you great ass!" she was positively livid now, "You transformed right in plain sight! Honestly sometimes I think that I'm the only one who cares for your safety." Jabbing her finger into his chest as she looked up at his face she continued, "I make up lies to tell the neighbors all the time to keep you safe and you go and do something stupid like that!"_

"_Well why do you care?" he questioned accusingly, narrowing his spectacular blue eyes at her, "I thought that you were interested in David?"_

"_Don't change the damn subject," she snarled her green eyes narrowing as her anger simmered down into bitterness, "We're talking about you being a careless, over-protective, self-righteous ass." Her finger jabbed him in the chest once again._

"_Well I wouldn't have to be like that if you had better judgment when it comes to men!" he shot back, his eyebrows rising so high that they seemed to disappear into his bangs._

"_Oh so now my judgment is coming into this!" she drew herself to her full height, the top of her head still only reaching his chin, "I had no idea that I was such a miserable judge of character!" Spinning on her heals she stormed across the room, "Next thing your going to tell me is that I'm an idiot! And I should just sit back and let someone else make all my decisions!" Turning back around she stomped towards him, "Well let me tell you one thing Mister, I've survived on my own thus far and I don't need your help now! So just get out of my house!"_

_He stopped frozen, his mouth slightly open as a retort remained still born on his tongue. "Gwen," he muttered, staring at her in disbelief, he had never thought that it would come to this. They had become good friends since she had arrived in Spirit Haven nearly a year ago, and despite their heated arguments, they had grown very close._

"_Don't 'Gwen' me!" she shouted, pointing at the door as she moved to stand by a table on the other side of the room, "I've had enough of this bickering. I'm not yours. You don't have any say in my life, so please just leave." Tears were beginning to build in her eyes as she spoke, her voice slowly becoming weaker._

_He suddenly felt his body moving across the room, but not towards the door; instead he was moving towards the redhead that was still glaring daggers at him._

"_What are you doing?" she asked quietly, the tears in her eyes finally spilling over her cheeks. He didn't answer, he simply kept moving towards her, his eyes locked on her own. "What are you doing?" she asked again, panic rising in her voice as she backed into the table behind her._

_Stopping only feet from her, he smiled, "Something I should have done weeks ago." Catching her face in his hands, his lips crashed over hers and much to his surprise, instead of pulling away and striking him, Gwen's arms snaked around his neck and she pulled him closer. It seemed like an eternity before the two finally separated, pulling away from one another only long enough to catch their breathes before seeking out each other's mouths again._

"_I think I understand why you always chased any male friends mine," she murmured, pulling back slightly so she could look the man before her in the eye._

"_I'm glad," he nuzzled his nose against her jaw line, "You have no idea how long I've waited to hold you like this."_

A snarl escaped the cat as he thrashed slightly. He knew what was fast approaching, he had had this nightmare often enough to know, and even in his unconscious state he was fighting to prevent it from continuing any further.

Because the further in he got, the more it hurt when everything came crashing down.

_Moonlight spilled in the window, bathing the two figures curled up on the large bed in its slivery light causing both light skinned figures to seem even paler than normal. Strong arms linked round the woman's waist pulled her bare form even closer to the equally bare body of her lover, and despite being asleep she moaned at the contact. Placing soft kisses on her neck, in hopes of rousing her from her sleep, Artemis propped himself up on his elbows continuing to tease her neck until the girl finally relented and opened her green eyes, gazing at the man poised above her. Leaning forward she kissed him softly, before laying back down and smiling up at him; taking the invitation he leaned down further and captured her lips in his own._

"_Artemis," his name escaped her lips, amazing her immensely that her words were still coherent, or that she even had much of a voice left at all after the night she had had thus far._

"_What is it love?" he asked, his chin on her chest as he looked up at her with heavy lidded eyes._

"_I'm just so happy," she murmured, one of her hands fisting itself in the man's white hair, "I never thought that I would find someone, I thought that I would always be alone…" she paused, her other hand running along his jaw line softly. "I've spent most of my life scared, shying away from people because I didn't want to get hurt. I figured that if I didn't let anyone get to close, I wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt. But then you came along."_

_He smiled and kissed the tips of her fingers which were now tracing his lips, "I'm glad that I'm the one you chose to let in."_

"_I didn't chose to let you in," her smile was small, but it held much emotion, "You forced your way in. You wouldn't let me run from what scared me, you were the first person that I ever got into screaming arguments with. I never had the courage to yell like that before." She chuckled, "I had been taught since I was little how to defend myself against physical attacks, but I had no shield for an emotional one."_

"_Well now you don't have any need for an emotional shield," Artemis grinned at her, "Because I'm here to protect your heart from being broken."_

"_You are such a hopeless romantic," Gwen rolled her eyes._

"_I wasn't until I met you."_

_The girl closed her eyes, her words becoming sleepy, "Sorry for being a bad influence."_

_Soon Gwen was fast asleep, and Artemis was content with simply watching her sleep._

A soft whimper escaped Artemis as he gave up all hope of stopping his dream; there was no way to avoid it.

_Gwen stood in front of a large metal basin, washing dishes and humming happily as she placed each of them gently into the drying rack. Warm sunlight was streaming in every window in the house, and the sound of bird could be heard where ever she went. She had never been so happy in her entire life and it seemed that the entire world was rejoicing with her. For the longest time she had been frightened and leery of the growing feelings that she harbored towards the white haired spirit that had come to protect her over a year ago, but now she felt completely free and lighter than she had in years._

_It had been a week since the fight that had resulted in heated kissed and confessions. She blushed slightly as she remembered Artemis hoisting her off her feet and carrying her to her room, never breaking the passionate kiss that he had held her in. A shiver ran down her spine and she began to scrub at the dishes more furiously to try and dispel the images of bare flesh that were flashing through her mind._

_Finishing the dishes, she wiped her soapy hands off on her apron before removing it and hanging it on one of the pegs sticking out of the wall. Reaching up she tugged the white ribbon from her hair and her red locks fell free of the bun that she had pulled them into so she could wash dishes. Raking her hands through her hair she yawned, and began to head towards her room for a nap. Artemis had told her that he probably wouldn't be back until much later so taking a quick nap seemed like a good idea. She had almost made it to the door to her room when the front door burst open and Artemis rushed in like a flash, catching her around the waist and hoisting her into the air, before spinning her around._

"_What as gotten into you?" she laughed, her hands pressed against his chest for balance._

"_I just had a meeting with the spirits!" he grinned, spinning her around again._

"_That doesn't explain why you're so excited," her laughter had died down to a few stray giggles as the reached up and brushed a few white hairs from his electric blue eyes._

"_Oh yes it does," his smile got even wider and it amazed her that his face didn't crack._

"_Well are you going to tell me?" she asked in mock exasperation as he sat her back on her feet. Her hands came to rest on her hips as she shot a fake glare._

"_I suppose," his smile suddenly became a sly one; "The spirits have decided to give me free reign. They said that I'm free to do anything I like so long as I live up to my duty as the Spirit of Protection."_

"_So it's like a promotion?" she asked._

"_Exactly," he nodded, taking her hands in his as he kneeled down before her, "And the first thing that I want to do with this new found freedom is to ask you to be my wife."_

_It took all of Gwen's concentration to keep herself from passing out as she stared at him in complete shock. Out of the millions of things she could imagine him saying, this was the last she had actually thought could come out of his mouth. Opening her mouth to speak she found that no words would seem to come. But upon seeing Artemis's face fall dejectedly, she through herself at him and tackled him to the ground, planting kisses over every square inch of his face._

"_I'll take that as a yes," he laughed as Gwen pulled back, her green eyes glinting in excitement._

"_Of course it's a yes," she slapped his chest with one hand before trying to get up, only to be pulled back down by the ecstatic white-haired spirit beneath her. "Honestly," she giggled as he placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek, "Let me get up!"_

"_As you wish love," he replied jokingly as he allowed the girl to clamber to her feet, before springing off the floor after her._

Colors blurred together as the scene changed to that of only a few hours later.

_Taking one last look at Artemis's sleeping form, Gwen closed the bedroom door and moved into the small living area as she pulled on her shawl. She had gotten the strangest urge to go and sit out in the front garden, and no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to shake it. Closing the front door behind her she went and sat in one of the wrought iron lawn chairs and looked up at the sky. A sigh escaped her lips as she stared at the points of light sprinkled across the deep black of the night sky, for once in her life she was content with where her life was headed._

_Wrapping her hand around the chunk of emerald that hung around her neck, she thought about her sister, the pendant had brought her nothing but misery, but for her it seemed almost like a good luck charm._

_But no sooner than that thought passed through her head, she felt a violent shiver run up her back as the warm summer air around her dropped twenty degrees. Having lived with Artemis for over a year, she was used to the sudden cold associated with spirits and ghosts, but this was the most violent temperature change that she had ever experienced._

"_Who's there!" she asked as she jumped to her feet, "Show yourself!"_

"_Such a pushy little girl," a man's voice cackled, as a slender, almost skeletal, green skinned man stepped out of the shadows of a nearby tree, "You should really be nicer, you might live longer that way."_

"_Who are you?" she took a step backwards._

"_That is none of your concern," he rasped as he began to advance on her, "Just give me the Bloigh Crð Croi."_

"_No," she replied firmly as she took a deep breath, preparing to scream for Artemis, but the skeletal man leapt forward and covered her mouth, muffling her cry, though it was still loud enough to rouse the spirit sleeping in the house._

"_You should have kept quiet," the man growled, catching her arms and twisting them behind her back, before binding them with a rope that he pulled out of thin air, "Now I'll have to kill you." Artemis busted through the door and the skeletal man snarled, "But first, let us go somewhere more secluded."_

_And with a puff of green smoke, they were gone, only to appear seconds later in a dingy room. The skeletal man gave Gwen a shove as soon as the smoke cleared and she crashed into the wall._

"_I'll give you one more chance," he growled, prowling closer to her, his legs pivoting strangely at the hips as he crouched down next to her, "Either give me the Bloigh Crð Croi, or I will kill you and take it from you."_

"_What do you even want it for?" she cried out as she pushed herself as far away from the man as she could, "It's powers won't work for you!"_

"_I seek ultimate power," he tilted his head to the side, his neck creaking at the strange angle that it was turned at, "And if I can unite the five peaces of the emerald that that chunk was broken from, I will have it. Now hand it over."_

"_I won't," she replied as bravely as she could muster; she was a strong fighter, but she knew that she was no match for the ghostly apparition before her. Struggling to her feet she pressed her back against the damp moldy wall behind her, "You will never get the pendant."_

"_I tend to disagree," he smiled as he extended his hand in front of him, a dagger appearing in it, "I will have it." He took a few steps closer to her, a grin spreading across his face. A crash could be heard from somewhere above them and the grin on the man's face widened, "Sounds like the spirit's little guard kitty has come to save you."_

"_Artemis," she gulped, scooting away from the ghost._

"_Then I'll just have to make this quick," he dove forward catching her shoulder with one hand as he slammed her into the wall. A cry burst from her lips and an enraged roar echoed from behind the door across the room; the dagger was suddenly at her neck and her eyes widened. She could feel the skin break as he pressed it closer to her neck and she whimpered, only causing the lion clawing at the door to become more enraged._

_With a quick slice, the ghost drew the blade across her neck, her mouth falling open in shock as she began to make strangled chocking noises. The door suddenly burst off the hinges as a large white lion barreled into the room, seizing the skeletal ghost by the throat and flinging him across the room. The limp body slammed into the wall, the sound of breaking bones echoing through the room._

_With a bright plum of blue flame the lion transformed back into the white-haired man, and he turned to the woman who had collapsed to the floor. "Gwen," he choked out, moving to her side, but as he reached out towards her a brilliant green light exploded from the pendant around her neck, throwing him back as it formed a shield around her._

"_No!" he shouted, diving at the shield and slamming on it with both fists, "Let me in!" Tears began to pour from his eyes as he watched the girls head bob towards her chest, her beautiful green eyes loosing their shine with each passing second. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but no words came, only a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth._

_He continued to pound on the shield, the only thing on his mind was breaking through and taking her in his arms. He had to help her, she couldn't die. He had to get to her._

"_Please," he bellowed, pressing his face to the shield his eyes closing as he slid down the side and landed in a crumpled heap at the base of the shield. "Please," he whimpered, "Let me help her!"_

_Gwen's eyes closed completely and her head fell limply to her chest. A wordless wail escaped his lips right then, he hadn't seen the signs of her passing, but he had felt it. Like the air was suddenly sucked from his lungs and the room lost all heat; his were still closes as he continued to sob, he had just lost the one thing in the entire world that meant anything and everything to him._

_And it was all his fault._

_It had been his duty to protect her, and just as he was given the freedom to both do his job and live a happy life, he messed it all up. Gwen was dead because he had failed, and the pendant had made sure to make him suffer through her final moments. He knew that it had been only protecting itself from outsiders as its carrier had just been murdered, but still he couldn't help but feel that the cursed gem was winking evilly at him, content that it had delivered the worst possible punishment for his grievous error._

_Tears continued to pour down his face for hours as he lay weakly against the shield encasing the body of his beloved. It was nearly night fall the next day when the other spirits came to retrieve him._

"_No!" he shouted as Courage tried to help him to his feet, "I can't leave her!"_

"_You must," Honor said quietly, crouching down beside him._

"_I won't!" Artemis shouted, "Just kill me here and now for my failure!"_

_Wisdom stepped forward, his voice hard as he spoke, "Would you undo all of Meia's hard work fighting to make us not kill you for your failure, by requesting death yourself? Seems quite foolish to me."_

"_I have no reason to live," the white haired man whimpered._

"_Listen to me Artemis!" Wisdom shouted, stomping his feet like an angered child, "Your lover may be dead, but your duty still remains! You were made from us, so therefore your failings are ours as well, but so are your strengths. You will survive this and you will fulfill your duty."_

"_I failed," he whimpered softly, as he sat up, his head still hung low, his chin resting on his chest, "Yet you let me go unscathed because I was made from the four of you." He exhaled heavily, "Pathetic. You pardon me because you refuse to see your own failings."_

"_You are not getting away unscathed, Artemis," Wisdom said slowly, looking down at the broken man before him, "You are being demoted to familiar. When we get you back to Meia, she will turn you into a white cat as punishment, and you will only be able to use your lion form when absolutely necessary."_

_Courage and Honor moved to Artemis's sides and picked him up easily, suspending him between them as they began to carry his listless form away._

Electric blue eyes shot open, as the cat jerked to complete consciousness. No matter how many times those damned events of a hundred years ago played in his mind, he would never get over them. They were the constant reminder to him that he was weak, and incapable of protecting those he loved; he was the spirit of protection, and yet when it mattered the most, his duty had proven too much for him.

Standing slowly he leapt off the bean bag and trudged up the stairs, he would not fail again. He couldn't let either Sam or Danny suffer as he had, and now there was another life added into the equation. Allowing his duty to overwhelm him was out of the question. He had lived a hundred years of never ending punishment for failing before, and he was damned if he was going to allow it to happen to anyone else.

ZZZ

A/N: here it is! The chapter that explains Artemis's tragic past! It wasn't as long or dark as originally intended, I just couldn't get it to flow like a wanted it. I hope you guys like it though. Oh and as a side note, Gwen, David, Luc, and Damacies are characters from the novel that I'm writing. I just couldn't resist adding them in. Gwen's personality in my novel is just like what I wanted the girl in this story to be so I put her in, and then I got inspired to add the three guys in also. Hehe, I couldn't help myself.

I'll see you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	19. Classes and Unwanted Attention

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 19: Classes and Unwanted Attention**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

Here's the next chapter for all you lovelies, your reviews are making my day, and I think that I may pass out because I've almost reached 200! And I had never even expected to reach 100!

Oh guess what, I got my hair cut. I took off 6 ½ inches (I seriously almost cried, my hair has been really long for almost my entire life), and my 'guy friend' can't decide whether my hair cut looks more like Sam's, or Howl's from Howl's Moving Castle (the shaggier cut after his hair turns black). It was pretty funny, he went and found pictures of both of them on the internet and was walking around asking people that we know which looked more like my hair cut. I swear, he's such a goof sometimes.

Anyways, on with the story.

ZZZ

Morning came early, but instead of finding the houses occupants still asleep as they normally would have been at this time of morning, it found the two bustling anxiously around the kitchen and dinning room. Danny was currently in the kitchen, trying to make a quick breakfast for the two, while Sam was darting around the dinning room, and occasionally up the stairs to retrieve some item or another. Both were nervous about classes, but Sam was taking the first class day nerves to a new level entirely.

"What if I get lost?" she asked, emptying the contents of her messenger bag for the fifth time in the last ten minutes to check and make sure that she had everything she needed.

"Sam there's a total of 7 buildings on campus and their arranged in a circle around a big courtyard," he sighed, putting pancakes onto to plates, "If you get lost, there is something wrong."

"What if I can't find the classrooms I'm supposed to be in?" she asked anxiously as she began placing things back into her bag.

"You'll find them," he assured her, coming into the room with the plates in his hands.

"How can you be so calm?" she growled, narrowing her eyes at him, her sketch book clenched tightly in her hand.

She was having a mood swing, he noticed with a sigh; setting down the plates, he moved to her side wrapping his arms around her waist, "Just relax, everything is going to be fine."

"I know," she answered softly, leaning her head back against his shoulder, "I just feel so overwhelmed by everything. We're on our own, I'm pregnant, and were about to start out first day of college classes. What if I can't handle it?"

"You'll do fine," he answered, nuzzling her neck.

Turning around in his arms, she hugged him tightly, "Thank you, for being so patient with me. I must sound like a complete wimp."

"You're not a wimp," he rested his chin atop her head, "You're just nervous and worried, it's completely understandable."

"Then why aren't you freaking out?" she asked, her voice sounding almost accusing.

"I really don't know," he answered honestly, "I guess that I just have this feeling that everything will be alright, so I don't feel the need to worry."

"Optimist."

"Yeah I guess I am," he laughed releasing her and giving her a soft push toward the chair, "Now let's have breakfast so we can head to our classes on time."

ZZZ

Sam had never seen anything as amazing as the giant art room that she had just stepped into. The whole room seemed to be shaped like a giant sphere with a small flat area at the very bottom; high vault ceilings rose up above her, the giant inset skylights lighting the room so completely that not even a single florescent bulb needed to be lit. Heading down the stairs she moved into one spacious row of chairs and easels and sat down heavily in the slightly padded plastic chair, dropping her bag at her feet. Had she not already known, seeing this room would have told her that Caldwell had originally been an art school, only recently adopting other disciplines to attract more students.

A smile spread across her lips as she looked around the giant room, unlike most of the buildings on campus this one had been recently refurbished. All the walls were a gleaming white and the chairs looked fairly new, it was certainly a drastic contrast to the pictures that she had seen of some of the other classrooms on campus. They had all been richly furbished with dark stained wood covering the walls and gleaming hardwood floors, very much reflective of the age of the school and the time period in which it had been built.

"I like this room," she murmured appreciatively to herself, taking in the very art deco feel of the smooth arching doorways and oval shaped window.

"It is quite fetching isn't it," a man's voice came from behind her.

Spinning to face the person who had spoken to her, Sam was confronted by a slender brunette guy who could have easily have been the poster boy for 'pop-collared frat boys'. His polo shirt was pink, and she silently thought to herself, 'Danny would never be caught dead in a pink shirt.' While saying aloud, "Yeah it really is a great room."

He came to sit next to her and she caught sight of the giant diamond studs in his ears. "My name's Brad, and you must be Samantha," he reached out and caught her hand, giving it a polite kiss on the knuckles.

Blushing, Sam pulled her hand back, "How do you know who I am?"

"Well," he chuckled, pointing at her bag, "It does say 'Sam' on your bag and I'm assuming that it's short for Samantha. Such a lovely girl couldn't possibly have a boy's name."

Glancing down at the patch pinned onto her bag with safety pins, she frowned. There was no way that this guy had gotten her name from the patch that was halfway hidden by her leg. "Well you assumed right," she narrowed her eyes at him. Something wasn't right about this guy, besides the fact that she was positive that he was wearing girl's jeans, "But I hate my name, and have been going by Sam for as long as I can remember."

"Such a pity," he made a very fake frown, "Samantha's such a pretty name. But if you hate it so much, I could always call you Sammie."

"NO!" she nearly shouted, her face almost appearing panicked, as her mind screamed, 'Only Danny can call me that!' Reining in her alarm, she continued, "No, Samantha's fine."

"Alright then, Samantha," he smiled, "Would you like to get a cup of coffee after class?"

"I don't drink coffee," she told him though it was a completely bald faced lie, she had practically been a java junky before she found out that she was pregnant. The only reason that she had stopped drinking it was because she knew that the caffeine would be bad for the baby.

"Well how about a fruit smoothie? I know a great place on campus," he persisted, leaning closer to her as he talked.

Leaning away from him she replied, completely amazed with how well she was controlling her temper, "I'm really not interested."

"Ah, come on," he pouted slightly, "I'm really not that bad of a guy."

"I told you I'm not interested," she insisted, her irritation finally beginning to peak through.

Brad opened his mouth to speak, but a girl's voice cut him off, "She said she's not interested Brad, or had all that hair gel finally leaked into your brain and made you deaf?"

"I wasn't talking to you Josephine!" he snapped at the girl standing behind him.

"Well I was talking to you jackass," she replied, glaring at him through her black and tomato red bangs, "She said she wasn't interested, so you should just buzz off. And besides what is a Business Major like yourself doing in an art class." One of her eyebrows raised in a questioning manner.

"None of you business," he stood up quickly and stomped off.

"Please forgive my asshole cousin," the girl rolled her eyes and took the seat that Brad had just vacated, "Oh by the way, I'm Joss." The girl extended a red fishnet glove, clad hand and Sam shook it appreciatively.

"I'm Sam," she smiled at the girl who was wearing baggy black pants and a black tube top that exposed most of her stomach and a red metallic belly button ring.

"So I'm guessing you're another girl who hates her name," Joss chuckled, leaning back in the chair making herself comfortable, "There's a bunch of us here. Mostly from rich families who think that ridiculously proper names are the way to go when naming their daughters."

"You're dead on," Sam laughed, "So what's the deal with you cousin?"

"He got this idea into his head that he's god's gift to women," she rolled her eyes, "He's a skirt chaser through and through, my advice is to avoid him. He's a completely pompous ass."

"He sounds like it," Sam answered, shooting an amused look at the other girl. Across the room, Brad had sat down in another seat and had his arms crossed over his chest; a very childish frown was spread across his face, giving Sam the impression of a spoiled brat who had just been punished for the first time in his life. "So do you know anything about the Professor?"

"Oh yeah," Joss grinned, leaning forward, "He may look like an old stick in the mud, but he's awesome. I met him at an art expo in Denver this summer, and he told me that we'll be doing all kinds of interesting projects this semester, I saw him everyday for nearly a week."

The girl had a wide grin on her face as she spoke, and Sam could tell she was excited, but before she could continue the doors slammed open and a short man in a patched brown suit came strutting into the room. He strode down the stairs quickly, coming to a halt once he reached the very bottom of the classroom. Turning to face the students he smiled, revealing bright white teeth, "Hello everyone, I'm Professor Augustus Young. I don't care what any of you address me by, so long as its not 'hey you'." He cracked his knuckles, and looked up at the room expectantly, "Well it looks like a full class, though I suspect that in the next few days I'll drive many of you away. It's a bad habit of mine, but it helps weed out those who are to weak minded to think outside of the proverbial box."

A few students began to grumble, and his grin widened, "Well since this is only the first day, we won't be here very long, especially since the school's copier is busted again. I wasn't able to run a copy of the syllabus for you, but I will get it to you eventually."

He turned and began to pace around the small circular area in which he was standing, before whirling around to face Sam and Joss directly, one hand raised to point at them, "Had a good summer Joss?"

"Yes sir," she smiled.

"How did your paintings fair at the judging portion of Denver's Art Expo," he asked, his hands coming to rest on his hips, "I wasn't able to stay for the judging portion of the contest."

Blushing heavily, Joss replied, "The oil painting got third, and the charcoal sketch got first each in their respective divisions."

"Good," he replied, looking thoughtful, "What about the watercolor?"

Her blush deepened until it matched the red in her hair, "It got disqualified. One of the judges thought that the angel was to controversial."

"To bad," he answered sincerely, "Come to think of it, that angel kind of looked like your friend there." He pointed at Sam, "What's your name?"

"Sam Manson," she replied nervously.

"Were you the model?" he asked, cocking his head to one side. The rest of the class was watching the exchange with interest.

"No sir," she replied, "We actually just met today."

"Huh," his eyebrows furrowed, "Is that so?" He paused, "Joss you really should show her that painting, the likeness is striking." Then he turned back to the class, "Alright you all are so obviously tired of me and we have no syllabus to go over so get out of here, just bring a pencil sketch with you next time, depicting something or someone you love, in a way that only you can see."

The entire class stood up gathering their things, as Joss turned to Sam, "Hey do you want to go get something to drink after class and chill in the courtyard for a while?"

"Sure," Sam smiled, picking up her bag and shouldering the strap.

After leaving the classroom they headed outside, but not before making a quick stop at the vending machine so each could get a bottle of water. Heading over to a small grove of low branching oaks the two dropped heavily into the grass, leaning back against the large roots that poked out of the soil. "So your last name is Manson?" Joss asked after a minute of silence, "Are you related to the Manson's that live in Amity Park?"

"They're my parents," Sam groaned, burying her face in her hands, "How do you know them?"

"I don't," she replied, "But my mom and her twin, Brad's mom, know them. Apparently they were in a Sorority with your mom."

"That's news to me," Sam replied, taking a swig of her water, "Mom really doesn't talk about anything with me besides how she wishes that I'd wear pink, lacy dresses and how much she hates my best friends."

"Sounds like my mom," Joss shook her head, "Its always one thing or another." Pitching her voice higher she continued, "Josephine why can't you wear pretty clothes? Josephine why can't you date a nice young man? Josephine why must you rebel against everything?"

Laughing, Sam replied, "I know what you mean. My mom's favorite thing was making list of everything she found objectionable with a situation, when the circus came to our town she walked around with a clipboard for an entire week."

"That's a good one," Joss laughed, "I hope my mom never picks that one up." Leaning over she began to root in her bag.

Sam was about to say something else when she felt a sudden cold twinge behind her belly button that continued up her throat, only to escape in a gasp of blue spectral mist. Clapping her hand over her mouth, her eyes got wide, and she was looking quite panicked by the time Joss looked back from her bag, "Is everything alright?" The girl asked with concern.

"My stomach is just a little upset," Sam lied quickly, "Its just first day nerves, nothing serious."

"Well let me take you to get some lemon lime soda to calm your stomach," Brad's voice suddenly sounded as he walked through the trees to where they sat.

"Do you ever give up?" Sam questioned, giving him a dirty look.

"Not when I'm after something I want," he replied, moving closer, "And I always get what I want."

"Look buddy," Sam growled, "I don't know what you want, but you're barking up the wrong tree."

"You know exactly what I want," he replied a smirk that someone with much lower standards than Sam would have called charming, "Have dinner with me tonight. I guarantee that you'll have fun." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Do you make it a habit of hitting on pregnant girls?" she asked standing up and putting her hands on her hips, "Because I'm sure that my fiancée would love to hear about it."

"Fiancée!" the boy shouted, somewhat alarmed, "Your mom didn't say anything about a fiancée or a baby! I'm out of here, that damn deal she had with me is off, no amount of money could make me fight some guy for a girl that I just met, or any girl for that matter!" Before either girl could say anything, he had run off.

"Way to run him off," Joss congratulated her as she plopped back down in the grass, "I think you almost made him piss himself. The very idea of it had him terrified that he was going to get his ass kicked!"

"I'm just glad that he's leaving me alone," Sam sighed, knowing that sooner or later she was going to have to confront her mom about what Brad had said before running off, "I don't know what Danny would have done to him but it wouldn't be pretty, he gets pretty over protective at times."

"Most of the good ones do," Joss affirmed with a smile.

ZZZ

Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed brushing her hair when Danny got home from his last class of the day. She had one less than he did on Mondays and Wednesdays, so she had had an hour and a half of silence to help her think and analyze the ghost breath from earlier. The more and more she thought about it though, the more she came back to the only obvious answer. The baby had ghost powers and she was somehow gleaning the effects. The tingle that had ran through her body only seconds before the mist escaped her mouth had reminded her of one of the times that she had been overshadowed, and she supposed that in a sense, because the baby was inside of her, that it could be classified as a type of overshadowing.

Danny walked into the room and threw himself onto the bed, "That was the longest day of my entire life!"

"Oh don't be a big wimp," Sam told him, grabbing a pillow and smacking him with it, "At least you didn't have to deal with an obnoxious frat boy flirting with you." Then realizing that she should explain further before he overreacted she added, "But he ran off as soon as I mentioned you." She honestly didn't want to add in the part about her mother, at least not yet.

"Good," Danny said, the pillow still laying softly on his face, muffling his voice slightly, "I'm in no mood to kick some guy's ass right now."

Sam giggled, lying back next to him, "Guess what else happened today?"

"Do I really want to know?" he asked tiredly.

"Yes," she replied rolling her eyes, "It has to do with the baby."

"What happened!" he asked, suddenly completely aware as he pulled the pillow from his face and rolled over to look at her, "Are both of you alright!"

"We're fine," she soothed, "I just think that our little one takes more after their daddy that would be expected at this stage."

"What?" he asked slightly confused.

"I think the baby has ghost powers," she clarified, "Today when I was outside I felt a tingle behind my belly button and the next thing I know I was burping up spectral mist, just like your ghost sense."

"Where were you when it happened?" He asked worriedly.

"I was in the oak grove in the courtyard," she replied, one hand coming to rest on her stomach.

"Yah know what, my ghost sense went off when I walked by there between classes," he said, looking thoughtful.

"We can investigate later Danny," she sighed, standing up, "Right now lets just relax, we have more classes tomorrow."

Nodding, he followed her out of the room.

ZZZ

A/N: Alright, I'm at a crossroads right now and I need you guy's opinions on something. Do you want to see more of Joss, and if so, as just a friend of Sam's or as a little bit bigger part of the story. I have two ways that I could go with her character, and neither would really change the stories outcome so I thought that I'd let y'all decide. Send your answer in a review, and I'll count up the votes and see which wins. It may take a chapter or two before Joss makes another appearance so you can keep sending your thoughts until then.

I'll see you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	20. I Dream of Gypsy

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 20: I Dream of Gypsy**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

Sorry for the long wait, I'll explain it at the end of the chapter. Also this chapter is dedicated to **Gecko Osko** for helping me through the rough time I was having.

But for now, on with the story.

ZZZ

It was a peaceful Saturday morning, a few weeks after the start of classes, and both Danny and Sam were moving lazily around the house. Plopping down on one of the beanbags in the living room, Sam smiled as Artemis jumped up onto her lap; though they hadn't spoken of the day that Sam found out that she was pregnant, they had reached a peaceful understanding, and everything had fallen back into place. Leaning back in the giant beanbag chair her eyes drifted closed slowly, only to pop back open seconds later with a groan as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Danny called as she could hear his heavy footsteps going down the hallway, and she sank back into the beanbag with a contented sigh. She had been so tired for the past week, and all she wanted to do was take a good long nap.

Heading to the door, Danny pulled it open revealing a tall girl dressed entirely in black with tufts of bright red hair framing her face. "You must be Danny," she smiled slightly; "I'm Sam's friend Joss. Is she home?"

"Yeah," he stepped back, opening the door wider so the girl could step in, "She's in the living room." He pointed to the doorway that led into the room where he knew Sam to be.

"Thanks," she grinned as she hefted her large art bag over her shoulder and headed towards the living room. "Hey Sam it's me," she called as she walked into the living room.

"Oh hey Joss," Sam yawned, sitting up and straightening her black pajama pants and purple tank top, "I didn't know that you were coming over."

"Well I was rooting through all my artwork, looking for a mat that I could scavenge for class and I found that painting that I wanted to show you," she dropped her art bag, and plopped down on the bean bag next to Sam, "After I found it I just couldn't wait to show you, and I remembered where you said you lived so I brought it over to show you."

Artemis sat up on Sam's lap and peered at the girl curiously, Sam chuckled slightly at the cat's behavior before speaking, "Well let's see it then."

"Alright," Joss began to root through her bag, grabbing a hold of the only canvas in amongst the collection of large papers, and pulled it out of the bag, mindful to not crunch any of her papers. Turning the canvas to face the other girl, Sam gasped, Professor Young had been talking about, the Angel did look exactly like her.

The angel's dark hair floated around her head like a halo and her pale arms were stretched out at her sides, with her charcoal gray wings flared out behind her, appearing almost translucent. Pale lilac fabric wrapped around her like a robe, bunching right below her breast, the fabric then flowing down over her obviously pregnant abdomen. Tears were streaming freely down the angel's face and a thin trail of blood could be seen trickling down the outside of her bare right leg. But the part of the painting that struck Sam the most was the long silver chain around the angel's neck, a large chunk of emerald dangling from the very end near where her belly button would be.

"It's amazing Joss," she breathed, her one hand coming slowly to her chest as she fought to regain the breath that she hadn't realized that she lost.

"Thanks, the idea came to me in a dream," the girl blushed, bowing her head slightly as she put the canvas back in her bag, "It's kind of funny, that's actually the first piece that I've ever done that I actually like, and it was the one to get kicked out of the contest."

"But it's still a beautiful piece," Sam smiled, reaching out one of her hands and placing it on the girl's, "And that's what matters."

Joss smiled widely, "Thanks a lot Sam, you always know what to say."

"It comes from many years of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time," Sam pursed her lips, "I finally got saying the right thing down pretty well." She paused, "Well at least most of the time."

Joss laughed sheepishly as she stood, "Well I really should get going, I still haven't gotten everything together for class. I kind of stopped in the middle of everything to come show you this."

"Alright," Sam said as she stood, sitting Artemis on the floor, "Thank you for bringing it over here to show me, I can really see what Professor Young was saying about it."

"Yeah," Joss replied, following Sam to the door, "How much it looked like you didn't even occur to me until he said it. Which is weird considering that I was still pretty pissed about it getting disqualified at the time." Stepping out onto the porch she turned back to Sam, "I'll see ya in class on Monday."

"See ya," Sam replied, watching as Joss headed down the front walk. Closing the door slowly, she turned to Artemis who was standing in the doorway to the living room. "I know that you know something about that painting," she told him, planting her hands firmly on her hips, "Now you better transform and tell me, or else."

The cat bowed his head resignedly and in a flurry of blue flames, his lion form was standing in front of her. "Your friend Joss is a latent oracle," he said with a heavy sigh, "There were many powerful seers far back in her family line, and she had a very small bit of the ability. So small in fact that it is impossible for her to have a premonition without help, and even then they would only come to her in dreams."

"So it really is me in the painting?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the lion.

"Yes it is," he shook his head, "The Spirit of Wisdom encountered her when she was here touring the campus last spring. He knew that that the two of you would become friends, so he helped her along a little bit to get that premonition."

"What does it mean?" Sam sighed, sitting down on the stairs and rubbing her face with her hands. Just when she thought that the spirits meddling had stopped, a new case of it would pop up.

"No one but Wisdom knows," he replied, the growl in his voice showing that he too was fed up with his fellow spirits meddling.

"They must really enjoy manipulating us," she replied, bringing her forehead to rest on her knees.

"It would appear so," Artemis replied before a plume of blue flame surrounded him and he returned to his smaller form, so that he could crawl onto her lap, and rub his soft white face against her, as she shifted to accommodate him.

ZZZ

The sweet smell of fresh cut grass permeated the air as the silent pair moved down the weathered sidewalks of Spirit Haven. The whole day had been a lazy one, and now as twilight replaced daylight, they found themselves suddenly full of energy. Danny slipped an arm around Sam's waist and pulled her close to him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's beautiful out," she sighed in contentment as one of her arms snaked around Danny, while her free hand came to rest on her still flat stomach. A faint chuckle escaped her lips, "In a few months my stomach won't be quite so flat anymore."

"You'll have to sleep on your back then," he replied, rubbing her hip slightly with the hand resting lightly on it.

She made a sour face, "I hate sleeping on my back."

He laughed at her contorted facial expressions, "Well then maybe you can sleep on you side."

"Shut up," she chuckled, bumping him slightly with her hip, "I'll adjust my sleeping positions when the time comes." She paused, "How did we even get on this topic?"

"When you mentioned that in a few months you're going to start showing," he replied.

"Oh yeah," she nodded, her eyes taking on the far off look that she often got when she was thinking, "I'll probably be beginning to show by November, that would put me at about five months. That's typically when pregnant women begin to show…" She slowly trailed off into silence, before speaking again, her voice sounding very meek, "Do you think that we should go home for Thanksgiving break?"

"We probably should," he sighed, "Jazz would murder me if we didn't go back. I've gotten at least 12 emails from her in the last two weeks about her expecting us to be there. She and Gary are going to be staying with my parents for the week, and she wants us their as well. From what I've heard from Gary, she's been really moody lately."

"Well she is due in December so her hormones are probably reeking havoc with her emotions," Sam replied calmly, "If I remember correctly she should have her baby during Christmas Vacation."

"Yeah," Danny answered as they turned the corner, heading down another street, "The head of her Department at Harvard has insisted that she start her maternity leave right after Thanksgiving because she tends to get stressed out really easily. She'll be staying with mom and dad until after the baby's born. Mom insisted that she didn't have a problem keeping an eye out for Jazz, especially with this being Gary's senior year and all. He needs plenty of time to study because if he wants to graduate on time he won't be able to retake any of his classes."

"And how did Jazz take this?" Sam asked, one eyebrow raised incredulously. She didn't doubt for one moment that Jazz had thrown a bit of a fit when this plan had been purposed to her.

"She yelled at everyone for planning behind her back, and then gave in really easily when she found out that she was going to be able to complete the last month of her classes by internet," he replied, shaking his head at how focused his sister was school work.

Sam was about to reply when a sudden tingle shot up both their backs, and twin trails of blue spectral mist escaped their mouths. Groaning, Sam rubbed her throat to try and rid herself of the tingling sensation that was still trailing her throat, "That is so gross. How did you ever get used to it?"

"I don't know," he replied distractedly as his eyes darted about looking for what had triggered his ghost sense. "I don't see anything," he said after a moment.

"Well there are no people around," Sam said softly as she two began to glance around, "Go ahead and transform if its making you nervous."

"Alright," Danny nodded as the two rings of light formed around his waist, and trailed quickly up his body, revealing his black suit clad alter-ego. Floating a foot in the air, he surveyed the area around them critically with his bright green eyes. "I don't like this," he muttered, "Maybe we should have let Artemis come. He might at least know what it was that set of the ghost sense."

"It's probably noth…" but Sam's words suddenly became a pained shriek as she was thrown forward ten feet by a blast to her back. Rolling over slowly she saw Danny dart towards the ghost that had attacked her.

Danny shot a bright green ghost ray at the stocky little ghost floating a few feet of the sidewalk; the man dodged, the tails of his coat getting singed slightly by the blast. "Is that the best you got!" the short portly man asked in a very fake British accent.

Danny's green eyes flared dangerously as he snarled out his next words, "You fucked with the wrong halfa buddy!" Sam could tell by how hunched his shoulders were that he was barely suppressing the urge to use his ghostly wail, and she sighed in relief when he shot another ghost ray instead of releasing the destructive shriek; the last thing they needed was for the entire neighborhood to come crashing down from the force of one of his attacks. This ray struck the ghost clearly in the chest, knocking him back several feet, but it didn't deter him.

He charged forward suddenly, attempting to dart around Danny, his beady eyed locked on Sam who was still sitting on the ground watching the fight progress. "My employer wants the child dead!" he shouted as he jetted towards Sam, only to be knocked off course by Danny.

"Well that ain't going to happen!" Danny glowered at the ghost, placing himself once again between Sam and the attacking ghost. Sam stood slowly as she placed one arm over her stomach protectively, keeping her eyes trained on the fight as she rooted in her pocket for the Modified Fenton Porta-Portal that she had made a habit of carrying around with her. Removing her arm from her stomach, she uncapped the Porta-Portal and watched the fight for her opening; as soon as Danny moved a few feet away from the other ghost, she took aim quickly and fired, covering the ghost in bright green goop. And in the blink of an eye the ghost vanished in a swirl of green.

Dropping slowly to the ground, Danny rushed to her side, transforming back as he ran, and took her in his arms, pulling her tight to his chest. Slumping into his strong frame, Sam relaxed as he buried his face into her neck, breathing in her sweet scent; his breath was slightly choppy, and she could tell by the minor shaking of his chest that he was suppressing tears. He hated to cry, and over the years he had become quite skilled at keeping himself from doing it; but seeing him this close to it pushed her over the edge. A sudden sob racked her slim frame as she clung weakly to him, every insecurity she had had over the past few months suddenly bubbled to the surface and she found herself crying harder and harder as she held onto him. And from the wetness on her neck she could tell that he was crying to. Soon both quieted, neither completely sure what they had been crying about.

"Are you okay?" Danny muttered to her, his mouth right next to her ear, "Is the baby okay?"

"I think we're both fine," she replied softly, "But we can have Artemis check to see if anything's wrong. He said that he can already hear the baby, even though I'm not very far along yet."

"Alright," he replied, still not releasing her.

ZZZ

Even after the two had fallen asleep that night he still refused to release her, even though Artemis had assured them that the baby had been unaffected by the shot that Sam had taken to the back, and that had been just fine with the girl who was sleeping peacefully, cuddled up against his chest. But Danny's sleep was no where near as peaceful as his partner's; nightmare after nightmare assailed him. Each depicting a more and more horrible fate for Sam and their unborn child, but try as he might he couldn't force himself to wake up, for as soon as one would end, another would begin.

_From the dark forest that he had been in several moments ago, he was suddenly thrust into a hauntingly familiar room. Bundles of herbs that he had once known the names of hung from the ceiling, crystals and all other sorts of tools sat along low tables, and the undeniable smell of earth and a wood fire permeated his nose. Turning slowly he surveyed the room that he had spent much of his early childhood in, it was exactly how he remembered it, and a smile came to his face as he heard the creaky old door open and the sound of someone walking in with the help of a cane._

"_I've been expecting you," came an elderly woman's voice, and Danny turned slowly to face the stooped form of his long dead grandmother, "Now, have a seat." The woman motioned to a stool that sat before a well cushioned rocker, and he sank onto it without a word._

"_Grams?" he asked slowly._

"_Yes dear?" she replied as she bustled around slowly, making herself a cup of tea before coming to the rocker sitting in front of her grandson and taking a seat._

"_What's going on? I haven't had a dream like this in years," he looked up at her slowly and noticed for the first time the large medallion hanging from her neck bearing a 'CW', "It's not a dream though is it?"_

"_No sweetheart," she sighed, taking a sip of her tea, "I'm afraid it's not."_

"_Then what's going on?" he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He was really becoming tired of ghosts meddling in his life without telling him exactly what was going on._

"_Someone is after the Bloigh Crð Croi, and they are trying to go through Sam to get to it," she sighed, giving Danny an apologetic glance, "Since she is carrying its next wielder, they are trying to kill her and the child before the pendant has begun to protect them, for once it has its power will be reawakened and it will be nearly impossible to steel."_

"_I'll just give them the damn thing if they'll leave Sam and the baby alone!" he said stubbornly, his eyes momentarily flashing a bright angry green._

"_You must not give the pendant to those who seek it," she answered as she closed her eye, her head bowed slightly, "For that will bring about the end of the world as we know it, and result in the deaths of most of the people you love, them included."_

"_Then what to I do!" he shouted, jumping to his feet, his voice sounding desperate._

"_Calm down sweetheart," the woman soothed, a serene look on her face, "If you place the pendant around Sam's neck it will protect her and the child from future attempts on their lives, but only so long as she doesn't remove it." Gypsy stood slowly and moved to her grandson, pulling him into a hug, before pushing him away slightly and holding him at arms length, "Now wake up and protect those you love."_

Danny sat up abruptly, the air rushing into his lungs as he gasped at it hungrily; Sam sat up grumbling at his sudden movements, and he nearly threw himself from the bed into a crouching position in front of the bedside table. Pulling open a drawer with fumbling hands he pulled out the small black jewelry box and climbed back on to the bed.

"What are you doing Danny?" Sam asked with a yawn, "It's 2 in the morning!"

But Danny ignored her words and opened the case, pulling out the long silver chain and the chunk of emerald that hung from it out of the case before dropping the box carelessly into his lap. "I want you to put this on," he said urgently, holding the pendant out to her.

"Why?" she yawned, doing as she was told even before he answered her.

"It'll protect you," he said softly as he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Alright," she mumbled, as she pulled her hair out from under the chain, "If it makes you happy, I'll put it on."

"Thank you," he whispered to her as the emerald glowed a dull green for a moment before returning to its normal state.

"You're welcome," she yawned, "Now lets get back to sleep."

Danny nodded and laid back down next to her, watching as she slowly fell back to sleep, her fingers tangled loosely in the silver chain. He knew that they'd undoubtedly talk more about it eventually, Sam was notorious for being very out of sorts when suddenly awakened in the middle of the night. He had learned that much soon after they had begun ghost fighting back in Amity. Sighing heavily, he allowed his eyes to drift slowly shut.

For now he was content that he was doing his best to protect her, and at least for a little while that would be enough.

ZZZ

A/N: Okay guys, first off I want to say that y'all are completely awesome, and as you can see, your feed back on Joss has allowed me to begin to decide which path her character is going to take. So big hugs all around for that.

But now as to the big break between chapters 19 and 20. I am so sorry for not writing sooner but two weeks ago my cat Artemis, who is the inspiration for the character by the same name in this story, got hit by a car. I found him on my way home from Huntsville after getting a call from my mom that one of my cows was in labor. I must have sat in my truck on the side of the road for twenty minutes just staring at him in disbelief. But more horrible still I had to get him off the road so that my little sister wouldn't find out. And for a few days afterwards I just about became physically ill every time I even thought about this story. I also went through nearly a week and a half of having everything I wrote turn out depressing. I have at least 12 depressing Avatar one-shots that I started, saved on my computer, and I didn't want to mess this story up by making it to depressing so I put off updating until I could clear my head enough to type what I wanted, and not what was running through my head.

Thanks for being so patient with me, you guys are the absolute best.

I'll see you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	21. Visiting the Family

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 21: Visiting the Family**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

I know that it is not advisable for pregnant women to ride on planes after a certain point, but I'm not sure what it is. I believe that it's seven or eight months but I could be wrong. Also about the age at which a baby begins to move around, I've had friends that could feel it as early as three months, and others who couldn't until eight months, so I'm just using it as I see fit.

**NOTE: In order to keep the story progressing I have skipped ahead to November. **

ZZZ

Sam toyed with the long silver chain around her neck as her eyes staid trained on the small window to her right, watching the clouds passing below them; Danny, who was asleep to her left with his head on her shoulder, shifted slightly, his hand coming to rest on her slightly bulging stomach. A smile danced across her lips as she glanced sideways at him; ever since she had begun to show in the slightest, he had become infinitely fascinated with her stomach. It was annoying at times, but mostly it brought a smile to her lips. His behavior was the single thing that kept her from freaking out again, like she had when she first had found out that she was pregnant.

His unwavering acceptance of the whole situation had kept her from going to pieces over little things, though for the most part, besides being tired a lot, her pregnancy so far had been very mild. She hadn't even had morning sickness, only the occasional craving for meat and dairy, which annoyed her greatly with being a vegetarian and all. But after a talk with Jazz about cravings being her bodies way of telling her what her baby needed, she had gritted her teeth and grudgingly allowed herself to start eating dairy foods, instead of her soy based substitutes, and had even went as far as to include eggs in her diet. Placing a hand on her stomach next to Danny's, she sighed, if this was what it took for their baby to be healthy, she would do it, she just hopped that she could avoid actual meat.

Danny shifted slightly in his seat, mumbling something incoherent under his breath, and the loud speaker crackled to life, "We will be landing at Amity Park Municipal Airport in a few minutes, thank you for choosing our airline and have a nice day." The pilot's voice faded out and Sam placed a hand on Danny's shoulder to shake him awake.

She had barely placed her hand on his shoulder when he shot upright, his eyes flaring green briefly before settling on his normal blue after he realized where he was. "Sorry," he mumbled as he slouched backwards into his seat, "I was having a really weird dream right before you woke me up."

"It's alright," she smiled, placing one of her hands over his, "I'm used to you occasionally waking up like that."

"Well you shouldn't have to be," he stated seriously, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Quit it," she said, pushing his shoulder playfully with one hand, "You know that it doesn't bother me, and it shouldn't bother you. You are what you are, and there is no changing that."

"Well because of who I am, our kid is going to grow up being the same kind of freak as me," he sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the seat, "And they won't have friends that know about it like I did."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," she told him firmly as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Our baby won't have to depend on their friends to help them get through it because you'll be there for them every step of the way, knowing exactly what they're going through is like."

"What if I'm no good at being a dad?" he asked softly, never opening his eyes.

"Well it's a little late to be worrying about that!" she joked, taking his hand and placing it on her stomach, before continuing much more seriously "Just don't worry about it Danny, you're going to be a great dad."

"I wish that I could be as sure about it as you are," he opened on eye and peered at her, ignoring the turbulence that was beginning to shake the plane.

"I know you Danny," she stated, "And I know that when you set your mind to it you can do anything. So why should this be any different?"

"You know why," he replied, opening his eyes a split second before the plane touched down.

"Danny we have four more months to worry about that stuff," she took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "So let's just try and relax. Thanks to your grandmother's pendant the baby is safe so let's just try not to worry too much."

"Alright," he replied with a heavy sigh as he stood, pulling her to her feet and grabbing both of their carry on bags, before beginning to follow the disembarking passengers. Within minutes they had made it into the main airport, both looking around blinkingly at their surroundings as they tried to force their eyes to adapt more quickly to the bright light filtering in through the giant windows the circled the airport, as apposed to the dim lighting on the plane.

"We should get the rest of our bags and then head over to Gate G, your sister's plane should be landing in ten minutes," Sam said, lacing her fingers through his.

"It was smart for you and Jazz to book flights that landed around the same time," Danny said, as he allowed her to pull him through the crowd of people, towards the luggage claim.

"Well we figured that that way we could all just share a cab to your parent's house, being that we're all staying there," she said matter-o-factly before she yawned slightly, "Jazz also reminded me to pack the blowup mattress, seeing as how your bed is sitting in our guest room in Spirit Haven."

"Ah, the bonuses of having smart women in the family," he grinned as he stretched languidly. Sam giggled and continued to pull him towards the baggage claim, where they quickly collected their bags and headed for Gate G.

Sam sat down heavily in on of the uncomfortable plastic airport chairs, a sigh escaping her as she settled both her hands on her stomach, "I just realized that this'll be the first time that I meet Gary." She spoke with her eyes closed as she turned her head slightly towards Danny, who had just sat down beside her.

"I've met him a couple of times," he yawned, laying is arm over her shoulder, "He's a nice guy. I think that you two will get along pretty well, in his spare time he works on getting environmental issues noticed on the Harvard Campus."

"Well Jazz seems to think that he's pretty great, and I've always trusted her judgment…" Suddenly a strange look spread across Sam's face, and she squirmed slightly in her seat before speaking again, "Oh, I need to get up."

"What is it!" he asked slightly panicked as he leapt to his feet to help Sam stand.

"Your kid is moving around again," she said slowly as her face returned to normal, "No kicking, but a kind of scooting." Sam grabbed Danny's hand and placed it on her stomach, where the baby could still be felt shifting positions, "The baby seems to enjoy pushing on some of my internal organs."

"But everything's fine, right?" he asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Yep," she nodded smiling, "It just kind of makes me a little nauseous when the little bugger starts shifting around like that." She laughed slightly, a warm smile spreading across her face as she leaned her forehead against Danny's shoulder, completely content in the moment until a very familiar voice cut across the airport.

"Danny! Sam!" Jazz shouted excitedly, before rushing over and hugging them both awkwardly around her burgeoning stomach, "I'm so excited to see both of you!"

"Where's Gary?" Danny asked, looking around for his soon to be brother-in-law.

"He offered to go get the bags while I looked for you two," she said with a smile, as she held Sam at arms length and looked over her appraisingly, "Goodness you've grown. I just hope that you two are taking good care of my niece or nephew." She waggled her finger at them in a mock scolding motion.

"Of course we are," Sam chuckled.

"Have you had a doctor's appointment yet?" Jazz asked, switching into her all business manner.

"Well about that," Sam said laughing slightly, scratching the back of her neck nervously, a habit that she had picked up from Danny, "There's a slight problem with going to a conventional doctor."

"Please tell me this isn't one of your weird vegetarian things," Jazz groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Not exactly," Sam replied, "You see, the baby takes after its Daddy… a lot."

"Should have seen that one coming," Jazz admitted, nodding in acceptance, "But how did you figure it out this early."

"We'll tell you back at Fenton Works," Danny answered, "I'd rather not accidentally spill my secret in the middle of the airport."

"Good idea," Jazz replied, glancing over her shoulder towards the baggage claim. Where a tall, well built, brunette man had just finished grabbing luggage and was heading over towards the group, "Here comes Gary." She smiled sweetly at the man.

He walked up to the group slowly, totting several large duffle bags and two rolling suitcases, "Hey Danny." He smiled broadly with teeth that seemed oddly white for his skin tone, as he sat down enough of the luggage so that he could shake Danny's hand, before turning to Sam, "You must be Sam, Jazz has told me loads about you. From what I heard you were really there for her before her parents found out about the baby."

"She's like the older sister I never had," Sam said, grinning at the redhead who had to begun to bounce excitedly on the balls of her feet after Gary had joined them. Once the words were out of Sam's mouth, Jazz grabbed her, pulling her into an awkward hug, both of them having to lean forward over their stomachs to do so.

"That's so sweet," Jazz sniffled, as she pulled back wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. But as quickly as the change between excited and sappy-sentimental had occurred, Jazz shifted into her all business mode, "We should really get our stuff together and get a cab. Mom and dad know when our flights are supposed to get in, so they'll probably go spastic if we're too late." She paused, "Danny have you talked to them lately?"

"I talked to mom a little last week," he said as he and Gary gathered the luggage and began to head for the door, "Why?"

"Well mom has been calling me at least once a day for the past month, her and dad are going a little crazy with excitement over them soon becoming grandparents," a soft smile spread across her face, "They actually promised that we're going to have a normal thanksgiving this year. Dad said that once we get to the house, he's locking the lab and isn't going to go back down there at all this week unless it's an emergency."

"Wow," Danny said surprised, "I guess we won't have to worry as much about his inventions going nuts on us."

"We won't have to worry at all," she said, sounding like she was still in shock about the entire situation with there parents, "Mom is locking everything with the word Fenton on it in the basement."

"Man, becoming grandparents is sure changing them," Danny said, pushing the door to the airport open and holding for the others, before following them outside.

The group stopped on the sidewalk as Gary began to hail a cab, but before a cab could show up, Sam felt herself being suddenly hugged from behind as a very preppy voice announced loudly, "It's good to see you creepy goth girl!"

"Paulina!" she choked out, prying the Latino girl's arms off of her and turning around to face her, "What are you doing here?"

"My grandmother surprised me yesterday with a plane ticket home so I could spend thanksgiving with Mama and Papa," she suddenly stepped back and looked Sam over appraisingly, "You've gotten fat."

"No," Sam corrected patiently, "I got pregnant."

The girl screeched with excitement and pulled her into another hug, "I'm so happy for you!" The honking of a car horn could be heard and Paulina turned her head to see the car, "That's my Papa, I gotta go." Waving cheerily she ran off to where her father was waiting for her.

"That's the second time I've been mauled by a prep," Sam said, turning back to face the group, "And the scary thing is, I'm actually starting to think that she's not such a bad person. Take her out of a high school environment and she almost becomes a semi-normal human being." Sam paused, "Me and her actually used to be fairly good friends in elementary, she would come over to my house and we'd play dress up and stuff when we were in first grade. But somewhere around Junior high we kind of just started hating each other."

"I actually remember that," Jazz said, looking thoughtful, "You came over looking really pissed, and I had asked you what's wrong." Jazz chuckled, "You and Danny had always been really tight and Paulina had just been a casual friend that you hung out with once in a while when you needed a break from Danny and Tucker, but when she told you that she had a crush on Danny in seventh grade you two just started to fight none stop. It was around then that we started calling you, Danny, and Tucker the golden trio, because where you saw one, you also saw the other two."

"Paulina had a crush on 'me' in seventh?" Danny asked incredulously, one eyebrow raised. A cab pulled up and Gary and Danny began to load stuff into the trunk.

"Don't sound so surprised," Sam crossed her arms over her chest, "But I told her to back off. I actually think that I may have punched her in the shoulder for it. It was after that that she started that whole 'lovebirds' thing. It really embarrassed me at first because she had figured out that I liked you," Sam was blushing as she spoke, "But she never came out and told you, she just got everyone to pick on us."

"Wait a minute!" Danny said, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation as Gary slammed the trunk shut, "You had a crush on me then too."

"Does 'Clueless One' ring any bells?" she asked with a laugh as she, Jazz, and Danny climbed into the backseat of the cab, and Gary climbed into the front.

"Man!" he whined, "I really was completely blind, wasn't I?"

"Yep," Jazz chimed in, patting her brother on the head with a laugh, "But you wised up and that's the important part."

"Took him long enough," Sam huffed jokingly as she crossed her arms over her chest, a smile creeping onto her lips.

The four continued to talk as the cab headed into the city, and within what seemed like just a few minutes it pulled up in front of Fenton Works. No sooner than the cab was completely stopped, the buildings front door burst open and Jack and Maddie rushed out to great them, pulling everyone into her arms for a hug.

Finally releasing them, Maddie took a step back and looked at them beamingly, "Oh, I can't believe that both my babies are going to be parents!"

Jazz smiled warmly at her mother, "You better believe it."

"Well everyone come in!" her smile widened as she looked at the two couples, before pushing the door open and ushering them inside.

"Yeah, and say hello to our other guest," Jack interjected the smile on his face broad as he placed a hand on his daughter and son's shoulders. "Hey V-man!" he shouted in the direction of the stairs, "Come down, the kids are here!"

Danny, Sam, and Jazz all bristled slightly as the man whom had been Jack's college rival came strutting down the stairs of Fenton Works as if he owned the place. Coming to a stop in front of them, he smoothed his gray hair and shot them all a devilish smile, "My it seems that the Fenton Clan just keeps growing. Dear sweet Maddie, you are far to young to be a grandmother." He gave Maddie his best attempt at a charming smile, which came across more like a sly scowl, before turninging back to the ones in front of him, "My young Daniel, we simply must catch up. You must tell me all about this wonderful school that you're going to." Reaching out, Vlad caught Danny by the arm and began to drag the young halfa off.

Entering the next room, Danny pulled his arm free and glared at the other man, "What do you want Plasmius, and why are you staying with my parents for thanksgiving?"

"Why Daniel, I simply want to talk," he smiled, "And as to why I am here, your oaf of a father invited me."

"I don't buy it," Danny growled, "You always have an ulterior motive for everything."

Ignoring Danny's comment, Vlad moved across the room, picking up a vase and turning it over in his hands to inspect it before speaking again, "What I really want to talk about is you and the Manson girl. Surely she didn't offer to bare your part ghost offspring."

"You leave Sam and the baby out of this!" Danny snarled, his eyes flashing green as he leapt over the couch that was separating them, "I swear that if you do anything to either of them I will kill you." His voice lowered to an even more threatening pitch, "Do you understand me?"

"Ah, young Daniel," he sighed, rolling his eyes, "You become more ghost-like with each passing day. You are so defensive over things that you consider yours. Honestly, you are going to be just like me before long…" he paused, "At least after you get rid of those blasted emotions."

"Plasmius…" Danny growled threateningly, his clenched fists suddenly become surrounded with a glowing green ecto-blast, despite still being in his human form.

"Alright, I acquiesce," Vlad said, holding his hands in front of him to show surrender, "I will leave the girl and your spawn alone." he began to leave the room, "At least for now."

Danny was about to chase after him and demand an explanation, when a shriek from Sam in the front room reached his ears. Running to the front room he saw her standing by the window next to the front door, peering out it in disbelief. She turned to face him, her eyes wide as she barely managed to speak. "It's my parents," she whispered, "They just pulled up and are heading to the door now."

He came to stand beside her, "We have to face them sometime."

"Could we face them later," she asked, her face the picture of nervousness, "Like when the baby is six or seven years old?"

"No," he chuckled slightly, "The sooner the better." He turned to his mom who had also arrived to investigate Sam's shriek, "Can you keep everyone in the other room for a while, Sam's parents just showed up."

"Sure honey," she smiled encouragingly at them before heading into the kitchen where the others were.

A knock sounded at the door, and Danny opened it tentatively. On the front step, the Mansons stood, with arms crossed over their chests and identical frowns etched onto their faces. "Why is it that we are the last to know that our daughter decided to come home for thanksgiving break?" Sam's mother asked, her eyes flashing with barely contained anger.

Sam crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at them, "I assumed that you didn't want to see me, seeing as how I'm such a disappointment to you both." A smirk suddenly crossed Sam's lips, "I also didn't want to run the risk of you trying to hook me up with another of your friend's children. I have every intention of staying with Danny and nothing you two say will change my mind."

"You see here young lady!" her mother pointed a finger at her as she took a step forward, "As a Manson, you have certain responsibilities. And as soon as that bastard child of yours is born, you are to put it up for adoption and we'll cover the whole thing up. Then we can hopefully find a suitable husband!"

Danny was about to cut in when Sam's father caught him by the arm and began to pull him into another room, he was about to break away but one glance from Sam told him that it was better for him to talk to her father in the other room than stay for the fight that was about to ensue. With how loud Sam was known to be, he'd surely hear it in the other room anyway.

Sam's hands were clenched at her sides and her entire body was shaking when she finally lifted her amethyst eyes to meet her mother's gaze, "How dare you." She hissed, before her voice quickly began to gain in volume, "I am not going to give up my baby for your asinine ideas of what is right! I love Danny and nothing you do is going to change that! I have spent the last 18 years as a Manson and I don't plan on being one any longer than I absolutely have too!" She was shaking much more violently now and was barely keeping the baby from changing her eyes an electric green to reflect her anger. "I want you out of here now!" she pointed at the door, barely acknowledging her father and Danny coming out of the living room to join them.

"Come on dear," her father soothed, catching her mother by the arm and leading her towards the door, "Being this angry is bad for your digestion." The door closed behind them with a snap.

Turning to Danny, Sam buried herself into his chest as he hugged her tightly. They stayed like that for a moment before Sam glanced up at Danny's stunned face, "So what did my dad say?"

"He offered his blessing once I explained to him that we plan on getting married," he chuckled slightly at Sam's confused expression, "Apparently your mother hasn't been telling him the truth concerning the two of us. He's going to talk to your grandmother when they get home and the two of them are going to try to get your mom to accept that we're together."

"Thank goodness for small miracles," she sighed into his chest as he kissed her softly on top of her head, "I just hope that they change her mind before she does something really stupid."

"Don't worry Sammy," he whispered into her ear, "Things are going to work themselves out."

"I hope you're right," she replied, closing her eyes as one of Danny's hands left the small of her back to rest on her stomach. _'I really hope that you're right, for all of our sake's.' _she continued in her mind as she allowed herself to relax a little, content in the fact that at least right then, things were going to be okay.

ZZZ

A/N: Guys I'm really sorry for the long gap. I had finals last week and half of this chapter was written virtually a sentence at a time whenever I had a spare second. But finals are over and I have a couple of weeks until I start summer classes so hopefully I'll be updating more frequently until the story is over. I can honestly say though, that I love this story and won't abandon it so have no fear.

If everything goes right I should have the next chapter up by the end of this week, but I'm not making any promises. I have a horse that I need to get back into shape and a heifer that will be dropping her first calf any day now, so something might come up and postpone an update.

Thanks for putting up with me, you guys are seriously the best.

I'll see you next time.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	22. Sneek Attack

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 22: Sneak attack**

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Danny Phantom.

My muses went into over drive and I went back and reworked the chapter set-up for the rest of the story. It now looks like we'll be having 33 chapters instead of 28. The chapter number may go up again because I'm trying to make the rest of the story flow better than I had had it plotted out previously.

I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter, even though it's a little on the short side.

ZZZ

Snuggling closer to Danny's chest, Sam tried vainly to catch the sleep that was eluding her; she had not managed to so much as doze off in the several hours since they had retired to bed and she was beginning to scoot around anxiously on the king sized blow up mattress that they had brought with them. She couldn't believe that her mother had said those things; granted her mother had never liked Danny, but she had thought that she'd at least come to accept the fact that she was going to be a grandmother in March. Instead she had thrown a fit and screamed her head off about it. Sighing she opened her eyes and gazed at one of the room's pale blue walls, all she wanted was for her mother to be as accepting about her pregnancy as her grandmother.

Slowly working her way free of Danny's arms she got up and walked across the room, sitting down on one of the chairs that Maddie had moved in there. Rubbing her face with her hands for a moment before allowing them to fall to her lap, she looked out the window at the peaceful Amity skyline. Not for the first time in the past several she found herself wishing that things were as simple as they had once been.

Ghost attacks she could handle, but her mother's attitude towards her pregnancy was almost too much.

Suddenly the baby began to shift positions agitatedly and she placed her hands over her stomach as a slight giggle escaped her lips, "It's alright little one. Nothing's going to get you, I promise." A smile spread across her face, "That's one of the perks of having a daddy who's a super hero."

Standing up, she grabbed her bathrobe and tugged it on over her pajamas before heading for the door. A cup of tea would help sooth her nerves. Closing the door behind her, she crept silently down the stairs venturing quietly into the Fenton's kitchen. The spaces familiarity was comforting and she didn't even have to flip on a light to find what she was looking for. Dropping a tea bag into a mug, she filled it with water and placed it into the microwave before leaning back against the counter. _'Things will get easier,' _she told herself, her mother couldn't be mad at her forever, and even if she was it didn't really matter because she had her grandmother and now her father on her side, as well as Danny's family.

"Everything is going to be alright," she said aloud with a heavy sigh, closing her eyes.

"Are you so sure about that?" a cool voice that sent a shiver down her back drifted to her from the darkness, at the same instant as a blue spectral mist escaped her mouth in a gasp.

"Fright Knight?" she choked out, as the purple flames that normally accompanied him suddenly appeared, illuminating his form.

"Yes child," the knight said smoothly, taking a step forward, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword, "My employer decided that since you and the half breed were foolish enough to venture home that he should have I, his most trusted comrade, dispatch you and your filthy offspring, instead of waiting for his incompetent pawns in Spirit Haven do the job."

"Wait a minute," she stated, pressing back against the counter as she prayed that Danny's ghost sense had went off, "You work for Vlad. So you mean to tell me that he's been the one trying to get the pendant all along!"

"Wasn't it obvious?" the ghost asked mockingly, taking a step closer to her, "He sent the box ghost to locate the pendant all those months ago. He wanted to be sure of its location before he came to claim it, and also he knew that you would not immediately link him to the Box Ghost so he would have time to plan his attack. Plasmius did, however, believe that you would eventually figure out that it was him." He paused, "Apparently he overestimated your intelligence." Taking another step forward, so that he was now within 3 feet of her he continued, "He has also spent the last few months obtaining two of the other pendants, one of which was right under your nose in Denver all this time."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" she questioned, her eyes darting towards the stairs as a muffled crash echoed down the stair well from Danny's room.

"It is quiet simple, child," the knight scoffed, "Because you won't be around much longer." Unsheathing his sword he raised it high before bringing it down in a hard arc, just as a fully transformed, Danny Phantom, reached the bottom of the stairs.

"No!" Danny shouted, shooting forward to try and get between Sam and the oncoming blade, but both ghosts were in for a shock as a sphere of emerald green light suddenly encased her. Danny veered off at the last second to avoid crashing into the shield, but the Fright Knight's sword hit the emerald energy and stuck firm. Giving his sword a yank he tried to pull it free, but with no such luck.

"What sort of witchcraft is this!" he demanded as he gave up on trying to wrench his sword free and instead tried to release his sword all together, only to find that his fingers would not unclench from the pommel. "I demand you release me at once!"

A pulse of light erupted forth from the pendant around Sam's neck, which until this point had been hidden by her night gown, and as soon as the wave of energy reached the terrified knight, he disintegrated. The bubble of energy around Sam dissipated and Danny dove forward, catching her as she slid to the ground; transforming back he held her close to his chest and kissed her on top of the head. The sudden thundering of feet could be heard coming down the steps as the rest of the residents of Fenton Works came to investigate Danny's shout.

"What happened?" Jack demanded in his over exuberant way, crouching down next to the two on the kitchen floor.

"A ghost attacked Sam," Danny said, cuddling her to him more closely.

"Are you alright dear?" Maddie asked, also kneeling down next to them.

"I'm fine," she assured them with a wan smile, "Danny scared it off when he yelled. I don't think it'll be back any time soon."

Jack didn't look to convinced by her words, but he relented remembering the promise that he had made for keeping the lab locked for thanksgiving. Helping Danny and Sam to their feet he looked them over with keen eyes, "Are you sure you two are alright?"

This was not a side of Jack Fenton typically seen and Danny gave his dad a confused glance. It was rare to see his dad this focused without him becoming eccentric, "Yeah dad, we just all need some rest."

"Alright then," Maddie said, clapping her hands together, "Everyone back off to bed! We can't have you mommies-to-be, tromping around all night." Sam and Jazz nodded in agreement and everyone headed back up the stairs, Jack drifting slightly behind to shoot one last look at the kitchen before retiring as well. He was sure that he had seen a bright green light reflecting up the stairs only moments before they had charged down to find Danny sitting on the floor holding Sam. Surely a ghost powerful enough to cause that much of a light show wouldn't be frightened off by his son yelling? Shaking his head he continued his way up the stairs.

ZZZ

A/N: Alright this chapter is out a little later than I hoped but I've been really busy. I had to drive back up to SHSU and get a copy of my transcripts to send to the school that I'm taking summer classes at, and the drive is like an hour and a half each way.

Plus my dad decided that we're fencing in our 18 acre back pasture for my cows, and it has to be done by the end of the month. There's also like 60 feet of dense briars and small trees that have to be cleared away before we can even get to the property line to start fencing. Then once the fence is up we have to go back and put up a hot wire. And after the fencing is finally completed, there's still the matter of actually getting the cows back there. It wouldn't be so back accept my bull likes to run and play with everything and everyone, and a 2800 lb bull is not the easiest thing to control when he wants to play.

Alright enough of me venting.

I'll see you next time, and you guys are completely amazing. I never even thought that I'd break 100 reviews and here I am closing in on 300. I love you all to pieces, you seriously rock my world.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	23. Break and Breaking

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 23: Break and Breaking**

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Danny Phantom.

Here's the next chapter for your reading enjoyment.

ZZZ

Danny held Sam close to his chest, her back pressed firmly against him as he kept his face buried in her neck. He was terrified to let go of her for fear that she would vanish before his very eyes. He had come so close so loosing the very thing that made everything worth it, that he found himself trembling slightly at that thought of what would have happened had Sam not been wearing his grandmother's pendant.

"Danny are you okay?" she mumbled sleepily, craning her neck to try and look at him, "You're shaking."

"I'm terrified Sam," he mumbled into her neck, his lips grazing the delicate skin and causing a shiver to course down her back, "I almost lost you and the baby."

"But we're okay," she soothed as she tried to roll over to face him, but having no such luck as he was holding her still, "Everything's fine."

"This time everything worked out fine, but what about next time?" he asked, his grip tightening on her, "Or the time after that? Who knows how many times the pendant will work." His voice was becoming louder and more intense, "What if it simply runs out of power one day when we really need it?"

"Danny!" she said loudly as she pulled herself free of his grip and sat up, turning herself around she was facing him, "That's not going to happen! Everything will be fine."

Sitting up as well, Danny's face drew close to her own, his face a terrifying mixture of anger and self-loathing, his voice nothing more than a hiss, "Sam, I'm not strong enough to protect you. We saw that tonight. How can everything be okay when my enemies will be plaguing us for the rest of our lives, putting our child in danger! I thought that I was strong enough to handle this, but I'm really not… You and our baby deserve so much better than what I can give you…"

"Don't you dare say it!" she growled, her finger pressing into his chest, "You are more than I could have ever asked for. I knew that this wasn't going to be safe or easy back after graduation when I told you that that kiss did mean something, and I still know it now." She paused slightly, tears forming in her eyes, "I have never done stuff the easy way, and I don't intend to start now. I love you and I'm not going anywhere."

Reaching out Danny wiped the tears from her eyes, before leaning over and resting his head on her shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured, his tone of voice telling Sam that he had calmed down, "It just scares me to think that one day one of my enemies could hurt you," he placed a hand softly on her stomach, "Or our baby. I want to protect you, but sometimes I think that I might not be able to. That I just don't have what it takes to protect everything that I love. Especially when I don't know who's after you."

"I know who's after me," she said softly, not sure how Danny would take the fact that the person who was after them was sleeping in the next room.

"Who is it!" he growled, his head shooting up from her shoulder and his eyes glowing a terrifying electric green.

"It's Vlad," she answered softly, meeting his eyes tentatively, "He sent the Fright Knight after me." She paused, "He's also the one who sent the Box Ghost after your grandmother's pendant a few months ago."

"That bastard!" Danny snarled, leaping out of bed and transforming into Danny Phantom, "I'll kill him!"

"Danny stop!" she hissed through clenched teeth, "You can't just rush into this! He has two of the other pendants!"

"I don't care!" he replied hotly, phasing through the wall and jetting into the guest room.

Which was completely deserted.

A feral growl escaped his lips as he moved towards the still made bed, Vlad had made his escape already. Taking another step forward, he spotted a folded piece of paper on the bed. Unfolding it he looked down at the single word written on it with black magic marker. He could feel his anger build as he looked at that solitary word.

Check.

"_It's chess Daniel, of course I don't expect you to understand."_

Eyes flashing angrily, Danny crumpled the paper in his hands, igniting it with an ectoblast. Soon only ash remained in his hand, and he dropped it silently to the floor before transforming back and leaving the room. That bastard was playing with him again, like his life was a simple game that he could influence as he saw fit.

Opening his bedroom door he slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. He was tired of Vlad's chess-centric logic, and he was tired of how easily Vlad always seemed to skirt around the beating that he had coming.

But most of all he was just plain tired.

Sagging into bed next to Sam, who had been sitting up awaiting his return, he sighed heavily and buried his face into her shoulder. She began patting his back, thinking that he was about to cry in frustration, but he simply stayed there leaning into her.

"Vlad's already flown the coop. Probably figured that whether or not his plan worked, I'd be coming after him with a vengeance," he muttered to her, his tone telling her everything that his words didn't, "I'm so tired Sam." He sagged against her more, bringing his arms around her waist and pulling her to him more tightly.

"I know Danny," she soothed, leaning her head atop his, "I know." She paused, "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"Just keep being you," he smiled slightly into her shoulder before lifting his head and bringing his eyes to meet hers, "That's all you need to do. If you just keep being the way you've always been then I'll be fine."

"Then you'll be fine," she smiled, giving him a soft kiss on the lips, "Because I don't plan on changing. I'll always be here for you. No matter what."

"Thank you," he smiled, as the two of them laid back down in hopes of getting at least a little sleep before morning came.

ZZZ

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I've been working all day and am really tired. I also got kicked by my five year old horse this morning so I'm not in the greatest shape. She kicked me hard in the gut, and I'm just glad that she missed my ribs. She definitely would have broken them had she hit any higher than she did. As it is I'm going to have a pretty nasty, hoof shaped bruise where she got me.

Also, I really have no idea how many chapters are going to be in this story now. It's around 35, but that's all I know for sure right now. Hopefully I'll have sometime to figure stuff out, but it seems like every time I look at this story I realize that there are things that I have to add in to make things work out the way I want them to. Oh well.

A side note. Normally I respond to review questions with that little review reply section that FFN has installed, but I received an anonymous review last chapter asking if I lived in Texas because they recognized the name of my college SHSU. Yes I do in fact live in Texas, on a working cattle ranch no less.

You guys rock. You continue to make my day.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	24. Thanksgiving Day

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 24: Thanksgiving Day**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own DP, only this particular stories plot.

Sorry for the long gap, life caught up with me and I regrettably had to put off working on this story for a little while.

There is a **LEMON** in this chapter, at the request of one of my lovely reviewers (You know who you are), so if you don't like that sort of thing, just skip down until you see a second set of these 'ZZZ' after that is the non-lemony part of the chapter that directly effects the plot.

On with the chapter!

ZZZ

A yawn escaped Sam's lips as she opened her eyes slowly, the world around her coming into focus. A slight smile graced her lips as she looked at Danny, whose arms were still protectively around her waist. He worried about everything so much, and recently most of his worry had been focused on her. He was more anxious about the coming baby than she was, and though she felt guilty being the source of his worry, she couldn't help but feel extremely loved by the extent to which he cared about her. It was definitely a welcomed change to how her parents viewed her pregnancy.

Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts of her parents, she went back to simply gazing contentedly at Danny. If several months ago someone would have told her that she'd be one of those girls who just gazed lovingly at her man, and got all moony eyed over him she would have denied it wholeheartedly. But now, whether it was because of the hormones her pregnancy had set loose in her body or something else entirely, she felt quite happy to just lay there while he slept and watch his chest slowly rising and falling.

Reaching out, she gently pushed a lock of unruly black hair out of Danny's eyes. He had been complaining for days about needing to get his hair cut, but it wasn't until now that she noticed that it was a good two inches longer than he normally kept it, leaving his every messy hair looking shaggier than ever.

She bit her lip slightly as a familiar heat began to build between her legs. This had happened several times in the last few months, the smallest things about Danny would suddenly turn her on for seemingly no reason at all. The first time it had happened after she had found out that she was pregnant, she had run to the bathroom and taken a cold shower, thinking that there was something terribly wrong with her for feeling like that when she was expecting. But later that same day when she was at the local bookstore browsing through the parenting books, she had come across a chapter in one of them that explained that it was just another kind of 'craving' and that it was completely natural.

Glancing at the door to check that it was locked, a devious smile spread across her face.

Shucking her night clothes quickly until the only thing that she still had on was the pendant, she pulled her self onto her knees and crouched over Danny, pressing her lips gently to his, one of her hands tickling his bare stomach. Without even opening his eyes, he kissed her back.

"What a way to get woken up," he muttered as she pulled back a little and he opened his eyes.

"A girl does what she can," Sam grinned, sliding over top of him so she was sitting astride his hips.

"You better be careful," Danny chided playfully, his hands coming to rest on her bare hips, "I could get used to this."

"I'm counting on it," she chuckled, leaning in for another kiss, this one much longer. They separated briefly for air, before Sam pressed herself back into Danny's chest kissing him forcefully as she rocked her hips against him.

"God, you're a tease Sam," he groaned when they once again separated for air and Sam took the opportunity to grind herself into his burgeoning erection harder than she could while she was leaning forward to kiss him.

"It's only teasing if I get up and leave you like this," she chided, one eyebrow raised as she looked down at him, doing her best to keep her cool while she felt like she was about to fly apart in a million directions at once, "And I have never done that to you before, now have I?"

He was about to answer, but stopped as Sam lifted herself off him just enough to reach down and pull his bed pants out of the way. Their eyes locked, and he could see the mischief playing through her amethyst irises and he could almost read her mind in that instant. The hunger that her eyes held was intense, and a goofy grin spread across his face as he watched her position herself over him. As self centered as it sounded, he loved the fact that he could evoke this much passion in her.

Placing her hands on his chest to balance herself, she came down on him hard, causing a gasp to issue forth from both of them. Holding herself still for a moment she kissed him lightly on the lips before leaning back and rocking her hips against him. Shifting his hands slightly on her hips he pushed her down harder, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. It wouldn't do to have everyone in the house hearing exactly what was happening inside Danny's old room.

Lifting up slowly until only the tip of Danny's member remained within her, Sam pushed down roughly, Danny thrusting up to meet her. She knew that he preferred to be on top, but since she had begun to show their positions had switched. She honestly didn't think that it would hurt the baby the other way, but Danny's thoughtfulness was touching.

"I love you," she murmured softly, her one hand leaving his chest to cup his cheek as she moved to kiss him.

"I love you too, beautiful," he replied, as he took his hands from her hips propping himself up, causing Sam to lean back slightly her back arching. Coming back to a full sitting position slowly she pressed her hands to his chest more firmly and pushed him back onto the bed, a smirk spreading across her face. Lifting herself up carefully before coming down forcefully, she began to establish their rhythm. Pulling up and then coming down as Danny came up to meet her. She was suddenly very glad that she was a runner, having strong legs definitely worked to her advantage. Pushing down again, she began to feel the pressure building in her lower body, and she could tell by the look on Danny's face that he was getting close as well.

After only a few more thrusts, they both came, their lips crashing together in a frantic kiss to silence their cries. As the final waves of their orgasms dissipated, Sam pulled off of him slowly and lowered herself to the bed next to him. "Happy Thanksgiving," she said with a chuckle, as he pulled her closer to him, kissing her gently on the forehead.

"Happy Thanksgiving, to you to," he replied, a grin on his face.

ZZZ

Breakfast was spread out on the table when they made it downstairs twenty minutes later, and Maddie was bustling around the kitchen trying to get the turkey, and the small tofurky for Sam, ready to go in the oven so they could slow cook until dinner that night.

"Oh morning kids," she said with a smile as she spotted them walking into the kitchen, "I hope that you two slept okay after that scare you had last night!"

"We're fine Mrs. Fenton," Sam replied as she walked over and began to help the woman shift the stuffing ingredients onto the counter.

"Oh Sam sweetie, call me mom, or Maddie if you prefer," she added the last part as she saw the look that Sam made at the word mom, "You've always been like one of my kids. You're part of the family, and I won't have you calling me something that sounds so formal!"

"Alright," Sam replied as she placed the last back of bread cubes onto the counter, and reached for the bowl to pour them into.

"No don't worry about this," Maddie said grabbing the bowl before Sam could, "You just eat your breakfast and let me do this, I already ate this morning." she chuckled as Sam began to protest, "And besides I'll be chasing Jazz out of my way in another couple of minutes once she gets down here. You know what the say about too many chefs!"

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, still not moving to the table where Danny and his father were sitting.

"Yes sweetie," she replied, "But if I need any help, I'll be sure to ask."

"Alright," Sam gave in finally, moving to the table and taking a seat.

No sooner than Sam picked up some toast and took a bite, Jack began to talk, "You know what, I think I figured out why that ghost came after Sam."

Danny nearly spit out his mouthful of orange juice, as he swallowed it quickly and turned to his dad. "Really?" he asked, his voice slightly higher pitched than normal.

"Yep," Jack answered, his voice more serious than they had ever heard it, "It's because you're the father." Danny swallowed hard, preparing himself to shout 'I'm not a ghost!' if the situation called for it. "And you're a Fenton," Jack continued after a pause, "And Fenton's are known for being ghost hunters! Those sneaky ghosts are trying to save their own skin by getting rid of the next generation of ghost hunters!"

Danny sighed heavily, "That's probably it dad."

"Well I have just the thing to fix those ghosts!" Jack jumped to his feet dramatically, his hand on his hips and his chest thrust forward, making him look like an orange jumpsuit clad superhero, minus the cape billowing in the wind for effect.

"And what, exactly, is that?" Danny asked, suddenly very nervous once again. He was willing to bet he knew exactly what his dad was thinking.

"The Specter Deflector!" Jack shouted excitedly, "I know that I promised that I would stay out of the lab for Thanksgiving, but I think that the situation calls for it. Just let me run and get it!"

Sam looked at Danny, panic evident on her face as Danny jumped to his feet and raced to block his dad's path to the basement. "Wait a minute dad!" he shouted, "Isn't that think defective, it used to shock me all the time!" Silently he was praying that his dad hadn't attempted upgrade the belt.

"That's right," Jack sighed, his shoulders slumping, "I never did get around to fixing that stupid thing." Danny and Sam both sighed in relief as Jack headed back to the table and sat down.

A few minutes later, only seconds after Maddie got both the turkey and tofurky in the oven, Jazz and Gary appeared in the kitchen. "I can't believe I slept in so late," Jazz yawned as she sat down next to her brother, filling up her plate.

"It's because you didn't have an alarm to wake you up at 5 in the morning," Gary said, buttering a piece of toast, before taking a bite.

"But still," she continued, "Even without an alarm, I'm normally up by 7 at the latest, and here it is, nearly ten!"

"Sleeping later is good for you," her mother told her, taking several empty plates off the table and putting them in the sink, before sitting down in the last chair and pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"Just relax Jazz," Danny told his sister, "It's not like it made you late for class or anything."

"I guess you're right," she answered, finishing the last of her breakfast and pushing the empty plate away.

Maddie finished the last of her juice and stood up, clearing the rest of the dishes from the table, "Well now that everyone's done, how about you all clear out of the kitchen and let me get started on the rest of the stuff for tonight's dinner."

"Hey wait a minute," Jack said looking around, a slightly confused look on his face, "Where's the V-man!"

"He left last night, before that ghost attacked Sam," Danny said through gritted teeth as he stood up, "Which reminds me. Jazz would you mind teaching me how to play chess? I think that I'm long overdue."

"Sure," Jazz replied, knowing that her brother's sudden interest in chess had nothing to do with actually wanting to learn how to play the game, and had everything to do with getting into the head of one Vlad Masters.

ZZZ

A/N: It feels so good to be working on this again. A combination of writer's block, Summer Chemistry classes, and overall ranch life has kept me away from this story for far to long. I hope that after this I'll be updating more regularly, but I really can't promise anything until after August 17th, because that's when I'll be back at SHSU, and I'll have my wonderful high-speed internet back.

You guys continue to totally rock my world and make my day.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	25. Thanksgiving Dinner

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 25: Thanksgiving Dinner**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, only the stories plot is mine.

I'm not dead! And I finally have another chapter for you! I'm sorry this took so long (a whole week longer than expected) but now the newest chapter is hear for your enjoyment!

I love you guys to pieces, so I won't bore you with details of the crap that's going on in my life, so lets just get onto the story.

ZZZ

Jazz marveled at Danny's determination as he stared at the chess board between them, never in her entire life had she seen her little brother more focused than he was right at that moment. It was only two hours ago that she had begun to teach him chess, explaining how each piece moved, several of the more common strategies, and the overall objective of the game, and he had soaked it all up like a sponge. They had played 4 games already, and even though she had beaten him every time, he was getting closer and closer to victory.

She gazed at the board anxiously, she could clearly see the move that would allow her brother to finally win. She almost couldn't believe that she hadn't seen the strategy he was employing, but now it was too late and she was one rook away from loosing for the first time ever.

Danny reached out and picked up the rook, moving it into position and jazz groaned, "You are the first person to ever beat me at chess."

"Well I had a great teacher and plenty of motivation," he smiled at Jazz before shooting a glance at Sam, who was reclining on the couch while reading from one of her textbooks.

"I have to agree there," Jazz chuckled, but suddenly her face became very thoughtful and her gaze shifted from her brother to Sam. "I just thought of something," she told him softly, "Is it possible that Vlad doesn't know that the Fright Knight failed?"

"He might not know for a little while," Danny replied, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to relieve the headache that he was beginning to get from concentrating so hard on the chess game, "But he has so many minions running around, that before long he'll know that the Fright Knight failed, and he'll change his game plan accordingly."

"You're right," Jazz groaned, smoothing her long red hair back agitatedly, "That bastard is too damn smart for his own good!"

"Since when do you swear?" Danny asked his sister, an eyebrow raised incredulously.

"Since I got pregnant," she narrowed her eyes at him, a clear sign that a mood swing was coming on, "And since I learned that a psychopath is after my unborn niece or nephew!"

"Relax Jazz," Sam called from the couch, lifting her eyes from the page that she was reading to shoot the redhead a glance before returning to what she was reading.

Danny shook his head slightly, "How can you remain so calm through all of this Sam?"

"Not sure," she replied, flipping the page, "I guess that I'm just trying to go with the flow. Stress isn't good for anyone."

Danny chuckled to himself as he began to reset the chess board.

ZZZ

For their first normal Thanksgiving in nearly two decades, Sam had to admit that the Fentons had done a pretty good job. Not only did they have all the traditional foods, but they had also prepared vegetarian alternatives to the meat dishes. Everyone had dug into their food appreciatively, and now as the meal neared completion it was beginning to become obvious that the male portion of the table's occupants may have appreciated the meal a little too much.

"I think I'm going to explode," Gary groaned, leaning against Jazz with his eyes closed tightly.

"Well don't explode on me!" she giggled, pushing him away slightly, causing him to sway in his seat, a nauseous look coming over his face. Danny and Jack, who were in similar states, looked at Gary sympathetically as the nauseous expression slowly left his face.

"Maybe that will teach you boys not to eat so much," Maddie scolded, waggling a finger at them, "Just because it's Thanksgiving, doesn't mean that you can magically fit in an extra twenty pounds of food!"

"You're exaggerating mom," Danny whined slightly, "It was only about 10 extra pounds of food."

"That's beside the point," she told him, a grin on her face telling everyone that she wasn't mad and was just having a little fun at their expense. Standing up she began to gather the dishes, "All of you go pass out in the living room and I'll clean up in here."

"I'll help," Jazz and Sam said at the same time, before laughing in unison at their speaking in tandem. The guys all glanced at them oddly before slouching into the living room.

"Honestly you two," Maddie laughed, placing her armful of dishes in the sink before beginning to put the food away, "I can do this myself, it isn't to often anymore that I get to be a domestic. Sometimes I like acting like a housewife instead of a scientist. And besides, I want the two of you to take it easy while you're here. I know that both of you work very hard back home so this should be a vacation for you!"

"But Mom!" Jazz whined, sounding much younger than she actually was, "I'm going to be here until next semester! If I don't do something I'll go nuts!"

"You'll be doing all your schoolwork for the rest of the semester on your computer," Maddie countered, narrowing her eyes at her daughter, "You know that you're predisposed to panic attacks, and that's the last thing you need in you condition." She turned to Sam before the raven haired girl even had a chance to open her mouth, "And you need to take it easy too missy. So the two of you march your butts into the living room right now and relax while I finish up here!"

"Yes ma'am," the girls chorused as they turned and headed for the living room defeated.

Walking around the side of one of the Fenton's couches, Sam threw herself down heavily next to Danny and leaned against him. While Jazz moved to the vacant armchair next to the one occupied by her dad, stepping over Gary who was laying face down on the carpet, in the process.

"I'm never eating again," Gary groaned, his voice muffled by the thick blue carpet.

"Like that promise is going to last long," Jazz rolled her eyes as she poked Gary in the side with her foot, "As soon as mom brings out the pumpkin pie later you'll be singing a different tune."

"I forgot about pie," he replied, propping himself up on his elbows to look at her.

Sam chuckled, "No wonder you get along so well with everyone Gary, you're just like the rest of the guys in the family."

"Yeah he is," Danny agreed, "I think that Tucker is probably the only other person I know that can keep up with me and dad once we dig in."

"Oh shoot!" Jazz said, jerking her hand up to look at her watch, "I forgot to tell you guys, Tucker called earlier to see if it was alright for him to come over after dinner. He should be here any minute."

"That's great!" Danny said excitedly, "I didn't think that he was going to be able to come home for thanksgiving because of that stupid computer project."

"Well thanks to you little bit of help this summer, they were able to finish it on time," she told him, as she closed her eyes leaning back into the armchair.

"I didn't know that you were good with computers Danny," Gary said, rolling onto his side and looking at Danny expectantly, "So what kind of problem was it?"

"Well," Danny answered, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "It wasn't exactly a computer problem…"

"Was it their server? Or network problems?" Gary was now sitting up and talking animatedly. Danny briefly recalled Jazz mentioning something about Gary being a closet computer nerd.

"Actually the problem was more of the ectoplasmic nature," Sam chuckled.

"What?" Gary asked confused.

"Don't tell me you don't know about our family business, my boy!" Jack said leaning forward, and patting Gary on the back, nearly knocking him forward, "The Fentons are the world's best ghost hunters!" Danny sighed heavily, he was eternally grateful that Jazz had got him to tell his parents about the little excursion to the Virgin Islands, minus the part about him being a halfa.

Recognition suddenly donned on Gary's face, "That's right; Jazz told me that you guys were pro-active paranormal investigators! I completely spaced on that, you'd think after what happened here the other night I would have remembered that!"

"Gary, for such a smart guy, you can be a total space cadet," Jazz groaned, covering her face with her hands.

The room fell silent for a moment before a slight chuckle came from Sam, craning her neck to look at Danny she began laughingly, "Maybe will actually find out how much money he's made off of those bets about us!"

"From the way he took the news about the baby, I'm assuming that it's a lot," Danny replied.

"Wait a minute," Gary said holding up his hands, "Let me get this straight. Your best friend made money off of bets he placed about the two of you? Didn't anyone think it could be rigged? I mean he is your friend, wouldn't people think that he had insider information?"

"That's the thing Sweetheart," Jazz giggled, shaking her head, "These two are so stubborn that it took them years to even admit that they like each other. Tucker spent a better part of high school trying to get them to fess up, but these two knuckle heads just had to take their own sweet time about everything." She paused for a minute, chuckling to herself, "Everyone knew that they were going to get together eventually, but no one, not even Tucker knew when that would be. He's just a good guesser."

"You make us sound hopeless and clueless!" Danny huffed at his sister, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you trying to tell me that your not?" Jazz responded, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

Danny was about to reply when the doorbell rang. "That must be Tuck," he said, groaning as he stood up and headed to the door, returning moments later with Tucker.

"Oh my gosh, Sam!" Tucker said, his eyes widening until they looked ready to pop free of their sockets, "You're huge!"

Sam rolled her eyes, as she stood up to give her friend a hug, "Gee thanks Tuck."

"I didn't mean it like that!" he said, suddenly realizing how what he said sounded, "It's just you look ready to pop!"

"I'm not even due until March," she told him, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's not twins is it?" he asked, eyes locked on Sam's abdomen.

"Honestly Tucker," Jazz scolded, from her seat across the room, "You haven't been around many pregnant women have you? Sam's just as big as she should be for five months."

Tucker finally turned to face Jazz, whom he knew to be due next month, and did a double take. "I guess my perspective is a little off," he admitted, seeing just how much bigger Jazz's stomach was than Sam's.

"It's okay Tucker," Sam said patting him on the back, "You've always been a little off, but we've gotten used to it by now."

ZZZ

A/N: I finally finished this chapter! Yay me! I have been working on it for the past week in between classes, and college stuff. It would have been up this morning, but FFN was having problems and I couldn't upload it until now. Hopefully the next chapter will come faster than this one did, but I can't make any guarantees because I have a really heavy course load this semester. But I will do my best to have the next chapter up by next week.

Y'all are my inspiration and your reviews keep me going, even as college crushes me into the ground.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	26. Oops!

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 26: Oops!**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom.

Okay, I had a super awesome day today so I decided that in honor of this extremely rare occurrence I was going to sit down and finish this chapter for my wonderful reviewers! (I actually believe that the only reason that today was so great was that I got to shot stuff in my archery class this morning. I actually fired the arrow so hard that about four inches of it was sticking out the other side of the six inch thick target! Yeesh, I guess that I don't know my own strength.)

Well, anyway, on with the story!

ZZZ

It was almost an hour after Tucker's arrival that Maddie called everyone back into the kitchen for pumpkin pie. Instantly the proclamations of never eating again were forgotten, and the group headed into the kitchen. The pies were cut quickly and plates were passed around the table, along with a tub of whip topping for those who wanted it.

To Sam it seemed like one of those ideal family moments that you would see on TV shows in the late 50's early 60's, well minus the hazmat suits. The mom bringing the pie to the table as the extended family and family friends sat waiting expectantly. It was very surreal, and it reminded Sam of family holidays that she and her parents had shared when she was small.

Tears sprung to her eyes and she brushed them away quickly before anyone could notice. Pasting a smile on her face she accepted the plate that Maddie offered her, she didn't want to think about her parents right now. She was sitting at a table full of peopled who cared about her, with the man she loved. The last thing she wanted was to think about was the fact that her parents didn't want anything to do with her and their unborn grandchild.

Clenching her hands on the edge of the table she fought back the urge to get up and leave the room to cry. The surge of emotion was so strong, and unexpected that her shoulders started shaking with the force needed to suppress the coming tears. Danny looked over at her as he noticed her slight shoulders beginning to shake and her eyes set stonily despite the smile on her face. He was about to open his mouth to say something soothing to her when suddenly her hands were ablaze with the bright green ectoplasm of a ghost ray.

All eyes were suddenly on Sam, drawn by the bright green light, as the parts of the table clenched in her hands disintegrated in her grip and her hands formed fists around the remaining ashes.

The ghostly green energy instantly disappeared as her hands shot to her mouth, a horrified look etched on her face. Everyone started at her in shock, some more so than others.

The entire room was silent for a moment, until Danny's parents leapt to their feet, shouts of, "Ghost!" coming from their mouths in unison.

Danny jumped to his feet; pulling Sam up as well as he forced her behind him. "It's not what you think!" he yelled, his voice panicked as he stared at his parents, both in battle stance.

"She's being overshadowed, Danny!" Maddie shouted desperately, staring at her son wide eyed, as he still remained stubbornly between them and Sam.

"It's another ghost after her because of the baby!" Jack stated loudly.

"No it's not," he replied softly, bowing his head, as Sam rubbed his back soothingly, "It's because of me."

"That's what I just said," Jack insisted, not noticing the look on his son's face, "The ghost is overshadowing her to get to the baby because you're the father!"

"Not exactly," he replied, still refusing to meet his parent's eyes, "It's because the baby is part ghost."

"Sam's part ghost!" Jack shouted, as his face beginning to change colors.

Tucker stood up and went to stand next to Danny and Sam, "Sam's not part ghost, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton."

Jack and Maddie's mouths shot open to reply at the same time but they stopped instantly when Danny raised his head to look at them, and opened his mouth. "It's me," he said slowly, "I'm part ghost."

The Fentons stood there flabbergasted, staring at their son, mouths hanging open in shock. Jazz got to her feet and moved to her brother's side quickly, pulling him into a hug as she glared at their parents almost daring them to overreact. Gary still sat wordlessly at the table, looking between the two groups slowly. It was obvious from the expression on his face that he wasn't surprised by the revelation of Danny's true identity. Whether Jazz had let it slip or Gary had simply figured it out on his own, Danny didn't know. But right now that really wasn't very important.

Danny patted his sister's arm reassuringly, before pulling out of her grip and easing Sam's hand off of his one arm. Stepping forward he looked his parents straight in the eye, "I'm the ghost boy… I'm Danny Phantom." And with those words, a silvery blue ring formed around his midsection before splitting and traveling slowly up his body before disappearing around his head and feet, leaving the ghostly Danny Phantom standing solemnly before them.

Maddie's arms fell slowly to her side as she closed the distance between her and her son. Tentatively on of her hands came up slowly, her fingertips barely brushing his snowy white hair, before trailing softly down his cheek.

"I don't know how I didn't see it before," she murmured, looking deeply into his bright green eyes. "How did it happen?"

"I went into the ghost portal, right after you guys finished it, and couldn't get it to work," he answered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. He wasn't sure if he could speak any louder if he tried, "I accidentally hit something and it turned on. I got thrown out of it and I woke up like this." He paused for a moment to glance over his mother's shoulder at his dad, "With Tucker and Sam's help I was able to transform back. Sam tried to get me to tell you guys about it but I was to scared. I didn't know how you'd react."

"You were telling the truth all those times that we thought you were up to no good," Jack said slowly, "All this time, you were the ghost boy, telling us that you were trying to help. And we never believed you."

Jack closed the distance between them quickly and pulled Danny into a hug, causing him to transform back in shock. "I'm so sorry, Danny," Jack told him, tearfully, "I'm sorry that I was so focused on ghost hunting that you were afraid to tell us about this."

"It's alright Dad," Danny told him as he released him from the crushing hug, "It's all out in the open now and everything's alright."

Jack looked at his son for a moment, and everyone resumed their seats at the table, before he spoke again, this time his voice coming across much more serious than anyone could ever recall hearing Jack sound, "So the other night. All that light at the bottom of the steps was you fighting the ghost that was after Sam and the baby?"

"Not exactly," Danny admitted, scratching the back of his head nervously, "You remember that pendant that Grams gave me before she died?"

"Her exorcism pendant?" Jack asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Danny replied with a nod, "Well apparently its more important than any of us knew, and now there are some pretty bad ghosts after it." He paused for a moment, "They didn't take into account, however, the fact that I've given it to Sam, and it's now protecting her and the baby."

"So that green light was from the pendant," Jack mumbled, the words coming out more as a statement than a question, "That actually makes sense. I remember mom going on about it providing protection to assure the survival of the family line when its current owner is male, and incapable of using its powers directly."

Danny was silently amazed at how calm and collected his father was being, given the current situation, "But despite the fact that its protecting them, I'm still worried. Plasmius will stop at nothing to get his hands on the pendant."

Maddie looked momentarily bewildered, "The Wisconsin Ghost? What does he have to do with this?"

"Let me handle this one Danny," Jazz said, patting her brother on the shoulder softly, before turning her attention to her parents, "Plasmius is a half ghost like Danny, but he's much older. He was created in that lab accident that you guys had in college with the prototype ghost portal." She paused, taking a deep breathe, "You see, Plasmius is none other than Vlad Masters, and he's spent all his time since the accident plotting revenge, and trying to figure out how to steal away mom."

"He's also the one who orchestrated the attack on me," Sam told them stonily, "He didn't realize that the pendant was protecting me, and he thought that by getting rid of me and the baby that Danny would play right into his hands. That's why he left before the attack; he knew that if it worked, Danny would be coming after him."

"All this happening right under my nose, and I didn't even know it," Jack said flabbergasted as he slumped back into his chair.

"Don't feel bad Dad," Danny sighed heavily, "There's probably tons of stuff that we still don't have figured out. The powers that be seem to enjoy mucking around with my life, and leaving me in the dark about it."

"Seriously Mr. Fenton," Tucker added, "We've spent the last four years in the dark about a lot of stuff. I've just gotten used to it by now. We won't now half of what's going on until everything's over and even then we still won't know the whole story." He let out an exasperated sigh, "We're like freaking play things for the paranormal!"

"Quit being so dramatic!" Sam scolded him as she kicked him under the table.

"Man you got meaner since you got pregnant!" Tucker whined, doing the best fake pout that he could manage.

"She ain't got nothing on Jazz," Danny told him, earning himself a kick in the shins compliments of his sister.

And just like that, what had been a tense situation dissolved back into a happy gathering of friends and family. Jokes were exchanged, and stories about college and work floated about the table. It was almost enough to let them forget about things to come, but in the back of everyone's mind the thought remained. 'What if this is the last time we're all together like this? What if Hollywood's belief that good always triumphs over evil is just a security blanket that we're all clinging to because reality isn't as kind?'

ZZZ

A/N: Yay! I finished before midnight! This is almost as rare a happening as me having a good day. It's almost worrying me with the good luck I've been having lately, its like the world is setting me up for a giant fall. For the last 19 years if it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all and then suddenly, BAM! I've been hit with the good luck bus!

I love you guys to pieces, and thank you for continuing to be the bright spot in my day. You rock my world.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	27. Back to School

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 27: Back to School**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom.

Hey Guys, here's a little in between chapter, sorry it's so short. It's main purpose is to put stuff play for the next chapter, which will hopefully be action packed and exciting. I hope to have the next chapter up sometime next week.

So let's get on with this little chapter.

ZZZ

The terminal at the airport was at its busiest as people bustled around, preparing for their trips home after a holiday with the family, as said families wished their loved ones a safe trip home. But the same could not be said about the Fentons. No, not this family. They had to be the different ones.

"Please just take the extra gear I packed you!" Jack argued with his son, as he tried to push a heavy trunk at him, "It'll come in handy!"

"Dad it'll never make it through airport security!" Danny responded, pushing the trunk back at his father. "and we have plenty of gear at the house!" he lowered his voice so passerby's couldn't here his next words, "Plus with my powers, the pendant, and Sam's crazy ghost cat we have everything covered."

"What good is a house cat when you could use a state of the art ectoblaster?" Jack asked, appalled at the thought that his son would rely on a cat instead of one of Fenton Work's latest ectoblasters.

"You'd be surprised," Sam replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "A house cat that can transform into a giant talking lion comes in pretty handy in a tight situations."

"Please just take the gear," Maddie said pleadingly at the pair.

"We can't!" Danny growled in frustration, "That stuff will never make it onto the plane with security the way it is. Plus half of that stuff has an auto response to ghost energy, the last thing I need is that stuff zeroing in on me or the baby!"

"He's right mom and dad," Jazz said in an exasperated tone of voice, as she rubbed her temples wearily, having just rejoined the group after wishing Gary a safe flight back to Harvard, "Just let them go before they miss their flight. They can handle anything that comes their way so just relax."

Jack and Maddie sighed in defeat. "Alright," Jack said softly, "You two just take care." He and Maddie hugged the pair.

"We promise," Danny told them, his face as serious as either of his parents had ever seen.

"Don't worry," Sam smiled at them, "We'll be fine." And with that said, more hugs and goodbyes were exchanged before the two headed to the gate where they would board their plane in a few minute.

The three remaining Fentons looked gravely at one another, and Jazz spoke softly, "God I hope that she's right."

ZZZ

Sam walked up the front steps of their house in Spirit Haven, a sour look on her face as she unlocked the door, holding it open so Danny could struggle in carrying all of their assorted luggage.

"Honestly I could have carried my own bags," she told him as he dropped everything onto the floor and collapsed beside the pile, "I'm pregnant, not an invalid."

"I'm just trying to look out for you," he told her, pulling himself slowly to his feet and standing in front of her.

She opened her mouth to reply when the sudden scrambling of sharp claws on the hard wood steps behind them caught her attention. "Artemis!" she shrieked, spinning around to face the cat, and dropping to the ground and scooping him into her arms. The cat purred excitedly and rubbed his face against Sam's stomach as if he hadn't seen her in years "I missed you too," she giggled as the cat continued to cuddle up against her, acting more like a cat than the powerful spirit that he was.

Standing up slowly, the cat still in her arms, she turned back to Danny, "Let's just get some sleep. We've had a really long day."

Danny nodded in agreement and followed her up the stairs, leaving their luggage laying where he had dropped it. He'd deal with it in the morning.

ZZZ

A/N: Okay, that was a short and fairly lame chapter. It's only purpose being to set up a little bit of stuff for the next chapter, and to get Danny and Sam back to school.

Sorry it's so short, the next one should be much longer.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	28. The Clock Tower

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 28: The Clock Tower **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it!

I have been itching to write this chapter since I wrote chapter 18 'Artemis's Story'. But honestly I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out until I actually wrote it. I was really having mixed feelings about how to make it turn out after I heard some of you guys opinions on Gwen and Artemis. But as I wrote this, everything seemed to fall into its proper place.

Now on with the story!

ZZZ

Sam had always considered Danny's over protectiveness, a slightly annoying, but otherwise completely acceptable quality stemmed from his need to protect people. He was a hero after all. It was his job to protect people. But there were sometimes that his abundance of protectiveness was just too much.

It had been nearly two weeks since they had returned to Spirit Haven, and she was about ready to pull her hair out in frustration. Danny seemed to believe that there was danger lurking everywhere just waiting to jump out of its hiding spot and get her. Danny refused to let her cook (Though that was probably for the best considering Sam's complete lack of culinary skills), he would do all the house work before she had a chance to so much as locate their vacuum, he walked her to class everyday carrying her bag the entire way, and he even managed to be there when she got out of class so he could walk her home. It had been cute for the first day and a half, but now it was beyond infuriating.

She had tried to explain to him rationally that she was healthy and that the baby was fine, that he didn't need to worry because if she ever needed help she'd ask him. And on top of all that Meia had warned all the ghosts and spirits in the town to leave them alone. She may be the spirit of motherhood, but that didn't make her any less intimidating.

But Danny was stubbornly insistent on continuing to be his overprotective self.

Sighing, she slipped out of bed as silently as she could manage, and crept across the room stepping around cans of paint that she had bought all those months ago for the wall mural that she had yet to start or even get an idea for; pulling some pants and a hoodie out of the dresser before quickly stripping of her nightgown and putting them on. Leaving the room she slunk down the steps, careful to avoid the squeaky step at the bottom. Her boots were sitting at the base of the steps and she tugged them on, lacing them tightly, before heading for the back door. She grabbed the small backpack that had left there earlier and her heavy winter coat, before opening the door as silently as she could. A small white blur shot past her feet and onto the back porch and she smiled. She had filled Artemis in on her plan earlier, giving him the option of tagging along.

She knew that he didn't like her plan or the destination of their little excursion, but he was not about to let her wonder around Spirit Haven, in early winter, at 2 in the morning all by herself. He was just as overprotective as Danny, yet unlike Danny, he seemed to realize that there was no stopping her when she set her mind on something. They reached the campus quickly enough, and Artemis transformed into his lion form as they approached their final destination.

The Caldwell Clock Tower, was the oldest structure on campus and stood an impressive 100 feet, but that was about all that was impressive about it. Several of the numbers had fallen off the clock's face, as well as the slender filigreed second hand that still stuck out of the ground at its base like a spear. The once beautiful marble exterior was worn, and rough, and most of the ceramic roofing tiles lay shattered to pieces around the tower's base.

It was a sad sight.

Sam had seen old paintings of the tower in some of the buildings, when it was still new and beautiful, but after nearly 150 years of standing on the campus it looked more like the tomb that Sam knew it to be, than the symbol of human ingenuity that it had been when it was built.

Taking a step closer, Sam stopped short as the baby moved around agitatedly. "It's okay," she murmured, placing a hand over her stomach, "We won't be here very long."

"The child has more sense than you do," Artemis chided, his voice sounding very despondent at he settled onto his haunches, shaking his massive head and mane, "No one has been able to retrieve the pendant before, what makes you think that you can now? And besides, it is safe where it is. If no one can get to it, than no one will be able to complete the emerald."

"Who says that one day someone won't retrieve it?" she asked as she walked around the base of the tower until she spotted the two heavy wooden doors on the north facing side.

"You won't get in, the doors are locked and have been for almost 100 years," Artemis nearly growled as he moved to stand next to her, "And I refuse to phase you in."

"You don't have to," she told him, her eyes remaining on the door before her, "I've spent the last week figuring out how to get in."

Artemis huffed loudly, and watched at the girl moved to the door. Taking a deep breath, Sam placed a hand over her stomach and concentrated. Soon a tingle started behind her belly button, spreading quickly throughout the rest of her body, and with a single step forward, she went right through the door. Her eyes fluttered open and the tingling stopped, she could here Artemis's muffled exclamation through the door, and smiled slightly as the big cat phased through it next to her.

"How did you learn to tap into the baby's powers like that?" his eyes were wide as he looked up at her, the dank stairway around them illuminated a haunting blue by his ghostly aura. "I didn't believe that it was possible!"

"Well, after that whole incident with me accidentally ruining the Fenton's table, I realized that the baby's powers were linked to my emotions somewhat," she explained as she cautiously began to head down the stairs. "I've spent the last week trying to figure out how to tap into them again, but instead of a ghost ray, I wanted to use the power of intangibility."

"That's amazing," Artemis answered breathily, clearly awed by the connection between mother and child, "Meia will want to know about this."

"Just let me fill Danny in on it before you tell her," Sam answered in a whisper, though she was unsure as to why she suddenly felt the need to speak softly, "I don't want him thinking that he's the last to know, its bad enough that I have to keep half the stuff that you, the spirits, and even his grandmother tell me a secret."

"You have my word," Artemis answered.

A few more minutes passed, as the pair slowly made their way down the steps finally reaching a doorway, with a door laying snapped off its hinges in a room bathed completely in an eerie green glow.

"You don't have to come in if you don't want to," Sam told Artemis seeing the expression that he now wore on his broad feline face.

"I have to," he answered, his voice sounding weaker than she could ever remember hearing it, "I have spent the last 100 years to afraid to visit her tomb, and now that I'm actually here, I have to see her."

Sam nodded and entered the room, Artemis close behind. Sam blinked at the scene in front of her, her mind trying vainly to process what she was seeing. It was anything but what she had expected. She had figured that she would find a skeleton, the remnants of clothing hanging over bare bone, as the pendant pulsed bright green sustaining the shield surrounding it. But instead she saw the body of a young redheaded, who looked to have died only minutes before their arrival, the blood on her neck from where she had been slashed with a dagger was even still wet.

Sam's entire body began to quake as she looked at the girl's pale face, the green glow from the pendant giving her porcelain complexion an ethereal quality that Sam found frightening to say the least, and she was faintly aware of Artemis releasing a painful howl from beside her.

This was not what she expected to find at all.

Shaking herself to snap the haze that had settled upon her, she took a tentative step forward. She had seen first hand just how powerful the shields created by the pendant could be, as she tried vainly to ignore the shifting feeling of ashes under her boot clad feet. Ashes that had been attempted tomb robbers at one point or another, and judging by the sheer quantity of the remnant dust she knew this not to be the tomb of a solitary human girl, but in fact it was also the tomb of dozens of spirits and ghosts who had sought the pendant for their own purposes.

"I don't know what to do," Sam admitted to Artemis who was now mewling pathetically, these much quieter than that first heart wrenching howl.

Artemis looked up at her slowly, his blue eyes cloudy as he began to speak, "The day it happened, I beat on that shield for hours trying to get to her, and it never destroyed me. But all these tomb robbers who were simply here for the pendant were destroyed by it." he paused, his entire body seeming to grow weaker with each word he spoke, "If you approach the shield without your sole objective being the pendant then you might be able to break through. But I don't think that this is worth risking your life, or the life of your child."

Sam looked at Artemis, and then back at the shield. Protecting her child meant more to her than anything, but so long as this pendant was out here, there was a chance that Plasmius could get it. And that was more dangerous to her baby than anything else. Taking another step forward, she placed her hand on the shield, expecting the worst, but her hand passed right through as though nothing were separating her from the redhead laying against the wall. Small hairline cracks began to form on the shield, extending out from where her arm was through the shield to her wrist. Sam inhaled sharply, as she watched the shield break apart, the pieces crashing to the ground like broken glass, only to evaporate into a green mist and then dissipate all together.

Amethyst eyes drifted slowly to the figure against the wall, she had no idea what to expect now after the series of bizarre events that had thus far made up her night. The last bit of a glow faded from the pendant around the figures neck, as the body began to disintegrate.

One hundred years of decomposition happening in the blink of an eye.

The sound of Artemis collapsing to the ground behind her brought a choked sob to her throat. She had not known this girl, but Artemis had, and he had loved her with everything he had, and that was something that she could relate to. For a terrifying moment, she could almost imagine that it was Danny's body decaying before her and she nearly broke. Falling slowly to her knees, she leaned over the pile of dust that used to be the woman who Artemis loved. Tears streamed down her face, falling into the pile before her. She knew that if this had happened to Danny she would die, there were no two ways about it, and she could only imagine the pain that Artemis felt because he couldn't follow Gwen into the afterlife.

There was no way that the spirits would allow it.

She could feel the baby begin to move around again, and her silent tears began to escalate into full out sobs as her arms moved to embrace her midsection. She would do anything to protect the little one she was carrying, even if it meant her own life.

Tears continued to fall as Sam stayed in her position over the redhead's remains, but a sudden rush of cold air across her face made her pull back quickly.

From the ashes, a fine blue mist was beginning to rise, and Sam scrambled backwards into Artemis's prone form, completely forgetting the pendant still in the girl's remains. The mist slowly began to coalesce, forming a human-like figure, and gradually as it condensed more colors began to creep through the blue, staining parts and leaving others untouched. Cream and white spread across the figures body, giving color to flesh and clothes, smears of green on the face became eyes, a smug of pink forming lips, and suddenly strokes of bright red streamed from the figures head in waves becoming hair.

The figure extended a hand to Sam, clenched within its pale fingers was the pendant. Sam shakily accepted, still looking at the figure in awe. "Who are you?" she whispered despite the fact that she had a strong suspicion of the figures identity.

A smile spread across the figures lips, "When I was still alive, I was known as Gwen." Artemis's head shot up as he locked eyes with the figure, his lion mouth hanging open in shock. Gwen smiled warmly at him. "We will talk later my love," she addressed him, "But right now I must explain a few things." She paused, her gaze shifting to Sam, "Your emotions, your desire to protect you unborn child, and the sheer immensity of your determination gave me form once again," tears began to sting the corners of her eyes, "Because of you, I was given this form. Because of your passionate desire to protect those you love despite what may happen to you, I was able to become the embodiment of that emotion. Because of you, I am now the Spirit of Selfless Love, and for that I am forever in your debt."

"You don't owe me anything," Sam replied, as she put the second pendant around her neck, "I'm just glad that I could help you."

"I owe you more than you can ever imagine," Gwen smiled, "And I will repay that debt if it takes a thousand generations of your family line to do so."

"Thank you," Sam whispered.

"You are more than welcome," Gwen replied. She suddenly jerked her head to one side as if listening to something far off, but then turned back to Sam and Artemis, "I must leave you now, Meia is calling me, but I shall see you both later I guarantee it." And with that said, she dissolved back into a blue mist, and disappeared from sight.

Neither Sam nor Artemis spoke as they got to their feet and left the tower, Sam once again phasing through the door. Both were too much in shock to say much of anything, or to even realize that they were being watched.

The sudden discharge of an ectoblaster echoed off the buildings around them, as Artemis hit the ground unconscious, a smoking wound on his side. Sam spun around quickly and came face to face with Darius who was holding a fully charged ectoblaster pointed at her stomach.

He sneered maliciously at her, "That pendant may protect you from ghosts, but spirits are much more powerful, and immensely difficult to destroy." His sneer became a smirk, "And I specially calibrated this ectoblaster for the sole purpose of piercing that lovely little shield that the pendant can put up."

"You're lying," Sam choked her eyes wide with terror. She peered at Artemis out of the corner of her eye, and saw that he was still laying motionless where he fell.

"Maybe I am, but then again, maybe I'm not," he chuckled, then noticed her glancing at Artemis, "Oh, don't worry. The big dumb cat isn't dead yet."

"You bastard," Sam snarled at him.

"That's not the brightest thing to say to the person that holds your life in his hands," and then without a second thought, he pulled the trigger.

ZZZ

A/N: OMG! I so didn't intend this to be a cliffhanger because I probably am not going to be able to update for about two weeks because of a big Political Science paper that I have to write, but it all fit to perfect for me to change it up. So I'll try and get working on it as soon as I can, but that paper is 40 percent of my final grade so it regrettably has to be my top priority.

After this chapter there's only 8 left! It's kind of sad actually.

You guys are so awesome, and your reviews keep me writing.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	29. Heart Wrenching Decisions

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 29: Heart Wrenching Decisions **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it.

Eep! hides behind computer desk Please don't kill me! Here's the next chapter!

You guys are really lucky that all those death threats from the last chapter made me feel guilty enough to cut into my paper writing to do this chapter. You almost had to wait until next week for this. But I felt really bad about leaving y'all with that cliffhanger so I decided to take a break from political science to do this for ya.

Now on with the chapter.

ZZZ

Danny jerked into consciousness, his mind a blurred mess of sleepy thoughts and the panic that always seemed to set in moments after waking. Groping around blindly with his right hand, he tried to find Sam, just knowing that she was there always calmed him right down. But instead of finding her warm sleeping form, his hand clenched around cold bed sheets.

He was instantly completely awake and looking around in a panic, his eyes glowing a terrified green as he scanned the room for any sign of Sam. He spotted her pale lavender night gown laying in a heap on the floor by the dresser, and he jumped from the bed quickly. After checking the entire upstairs he rushed down the steps, but once he reached the bottom, he stopped short.

Her boots were gone.

His mind screeched to a halt for a moment, trying vainly to process the new information. Anymore Sam only wore her boots when they left the house, opting to go barefoot the rest of the time, trying to give her swollen ankles a break from the tight confines of her combat boots. Without a second thought, he raced to the backdoor, noticing that her heavy coat was also missing. Where had she gone in the middle of the night?

Transforming, he left the house quickly, trying to suppress the growing dread in his chest and the bile rising in his throat. Sam could take care of herself, he knew, but the knowledge did nothing to calm him. She was his world, and far to many of his enemies were well aware of that fact. What if Vlad showed up, or sent one of his lackeys after her while he wasn't there to protect her. He knew that his grandmother's pendant would protect her, but for how long. The pendant was old. What if one day it just crapped out? Or ran out of power? He didn't know much about the pendant, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't the kind of thing that you could just slap another set of batteries into and be on your merry way. If and when the damn thing ran out of power, it would be bad, and he really hoped that that wouldn't occur in the near future.

Suddenly the discharge of an ectoblaster could be heard, its metallic resonance echoing off the trees and buildings. The sound made Danny's heart clench in terror. He had been around ghost hunting equipment long enough to be able to judge a lot by the sound of the weapons discharge. One, he knew that this was most certainly not a Fenton Works model. Two, its power setting was turned way up. And three, the blast had definitely hit its target.

Spinning mid-air, Danny poured on the speed as he headed in the direction of the blast. If there was any one thing that he had learned from years of ghost hunting with Sam and Tucker, it was that Sam had a nasty habit of being right in the thick of things.

Bursting through the trees surrounding the campus courtyard Danny immediately spotted Sam standing in front of a wounded white lion glaring menacingly at a green skinned spirit with tentacles sticking out of his back through holes in his red trench coat. But this was not what his eyes focused on. No, instead it was the ectoblaster the spirit was holding pointed at Sam's stomach that got his full attention.

He saw Sam lean forward, her lips twisted into a snarl as she spoke, though he was to far away to hear anything.

The spirit's face suddenly went from smirking to stone cold and Danny could tell by the slight flex in his arm that he was preparing to fire.

That was all Danny needed.

Pouring on the speed Danny rushed downward, the wind whistling in his ears as he closed in on them. It was like everything was moving in slow motion, he saw every minute muscular flex on both Sam and the spirit, and he could see the slight movement of the man's trigger finger.

His heart felt like it was going to explode; he wasn't going to make it.

In the blink of an eye, time seemed to speed up and he became nothing but a blur of black, white, and green passing between Sam and the ectoblast, taking the shot meant for their child without a second thought.

A strangled scream reached his ears, and he briefly wondered if it had come from him or Sam, but as he hit the ground, going at nearly 150 mph, he lost conscious thought and crumpled in a broken heap.

"How sweet," Darius sneered, "A half-blood protecting his mate and child." Walking over to Danny, keeping his blaster trained on Sam's stomach to keep her from rushing to Danny, he gave the unconscious young man a kick to the ribs, "I never knew half-blood's were so loyal, just like a dog." He chuckled.

"Get away from him," Sam growled tears streaming freely down her face, her eyes locked on the blaster still pointed at her stomach, "Haven't you done enough already?" She was fighting back sobs as her eyes moved to Danny's broken form; she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, but Danny never really breathed a lot in his ghost form, he could go for minutes without taking a breathe.

"Oh don't worry," Darius rolled his eyes at her pain, "He's not dead yet, just like the big dumb cat. This blaster has a handy function, one shot stuns the second kills." He paused, an evil grin spreading across his face, "Though it wouldn't take much to kill both of them." He briefly shifted the blaster to the two prone forms on the ground before shifting it back to Sam, "My employer never said that he wanted anyone left alive, all he wants me to do is get the pendants around your neck."

"Employer?" Sam stuttered dumbfounded, a burning anger forming in the pit of her stomach, as she instantly realized why the blaster in Darius's hand looked familiar, she had often seen one very much like it in the hands of a certain ghost hunting classmate, "Your working for that bastard Vlad too?"

"So you finally figured it out," the spirit chuckled flippantly, "Honestly after all the times that he messed with your lives you'd think that you'd realize that he's not going to give up on something that he wants."

"Then you should know that he wants Danny!" she shouted desperately, praying that telling him this would get him to leave Danny alone without backfiring on her terribly, "He's wanted him take him as his son for years!"

"Oh I know," Darius smiled wickedly, licking his lips in anticipation, "But knowing what he wants, and being paid to get what he wants are two different things entirely. He paid me to get the pendants, telling me quite pointedly that he didn't care if you and your offspring were killed, but he said nothing about Danny. The old fool assumed that I'd read between the lines, and blindly follow him like one of his minions." He paused, "But I'm no ones minion, I get paid for my services not my loyalty or blind servitude. I may be working for another, but that doesn't mean that I won't make things suit my own purposes if the opportunity arises."

Reaching down, he snagged the collar of Danny's hazmat suit and hoisted him into the air, pressing the tip of the blaster against Danny's stomach. "You might want to step back unless you want you mate's guts splattered all over you," he told her as though what he was about to do was no big deal, "At this range, this is going to get very messy."

"Don't!" Sam cried out, her entire body shaking violently, "I'll do whatever you want. Just don't kill him!" She took a wobbly step forward on legs that felt like jello, amazing even herself by not falling to her knees.

"Whatever I want," Darius echoed, looking slightly thoughtful, "Are you sure that that's something that you would willingly promise." He gave her a lustful look, "Because there are a lot of things that I want." He licked his lips, "Especially from you."

"You won't touch her," came a croaking voice from Darius's right, and all eyes turned to Danny who was struggling to keep a hold of his newly found consciousness, "Or I will kill you."

"Little half-blood," Darius mocked with a laugh, "You are in no position to be issuing threats." He jabbed Danny roughly in the ribs with the blaster.

"Leave him alone!" Sam choked out, her throat contracting violently as if trying to restrain her words, "Please just let him go!"

"I'll let him live," Darius acquiesced, "But only if you give into all my demands."

"Don't do it Sam," Danny's raspy voice cried out, "Worry about yourself and the baby, not me."

Sam looked at him sadly, silent tears pouring down her face, "I can't let you die if there's someway from me to stop it. I love you to much to just let you go." She turned her eyes slowly to Darius, "I'll do whatever you want, just let him live."

"Sam, NO!" Danny shouted, struggling as fiercely as he could against Darius's iron clad grip, but he was no match, still being severely weakened from the ectoblast.

"Silence half-blood," Darius snarled, giving Danny a shake, before addressing Sam, "Seeing as how you are being so cooperative, I will not only let the Halfling live, but I will also allow you to carry your child to term and entrust if to its father after its birth. But once that is done, I will take you as my new bride." He paused, giving a moment for his words to sink in completely, "But first you must hand over both the pendants in your possession."

Sam looked down at the pendants hanging around her neck, a shaking hand reaching up to grasp both of the heavy chunks of emerald that rested against her stomach. Handing them over meant putting Vlad that much closer to ultimate power, but not giving them to Darius would cost Danny his life. Her entire body was trembling now as her hand tightened around the stones, both warm from her body heat.

If she gave him the pendants the whole world could end, and if she didn't her whole world would.

She opened her mouth to speak but no sound would pass her lips, she tightened her grip on the stones even more, the irregular edges biting into the flesh of her palm. She didn't even notice the red rivulets of blood dripping from her hand as she continued to struggle to speak, but even more daunting than her lack of the ability to speak was the lack of words to say. How could she make a decision like this? How could she just stand there trying to choose between the one person that meant everything to her, and the entire world? Choosing between the life of one and the life of billions may sound like an easy decision to some, but when you take into account who that one person is, it becomes a whole different story.

"What are you waiting for?" Darius growled, shifting Danny so he was now held by his tentacles instead of his right arm, "Give me the pendants, before I loose my patience and just kill the half-blood and then take them from you!"

Sam looked up from the pendants, her amethyst eyes bloodshot and glassy from the tears she had shed and the ones still to come, and locked eyes with Danny. 'I love you,' he mouthed, and her lip began to quiver. She knew what she had to do, no matter how much she would hate herself for it.

"I can't," she uttered, her voice the most heart wrenching sound that anyone would ever hear.

"Good girl Sammy," Danny said softly, a slight smile playing on his split and bloody lips despite the fact that he knew what was to come next.

"What do you mean you can't!" Darius shouted, his tentacles tightening around Danny to the point that Sam could clearly hear ribs begin to break.

She didn't answer, her eyes closed tightly as she sank to the ground clutching her abdomen the pendants still gripped tightly in a bloodied hand, as she tired to shield the baby from what was to come. Tears were pouring freely down her face, as a strangled sob exploded from her throat, her entire body trembling violently as she sobbed.

A gasp could be heard from Danny as Darius tightened his tentacles even further. A tingling tightness suddenly began to manifest itself behind Sam's belly button, and her eyes snapped open in terror. The baby was reacting to her emotions, and with everything that she was feeling, she knew that this would probably not end well. The tingling spread up her arm rapidly as a bright green ectoplasmic energy formed around the hand that was holding the pendants. She move the arm quickly away from her body, unsure what was happening, and fearful of the results.

The hard stones in her hand began to feel as though they were melting and she inhaled sharply as she unclenched her palm to see that what had once been to separate chunks of stone was now a single piece of emerald. The green aura around the stone began to pulse with her heart beat and in the blink of an eye it exploded outwards decimating everything in its path. Grass was incinerated, trees simple ceased to be, and Darius was suddenly and violently ripped into a what seemed to be millions of tiny pieces before each piece burst into flames leaving a fine coat of ashes on the scorched ground. But what amazed Sam more than the emeralds fusing together, or the sheer destructive power that the emerald had unleashed, was the fact that it had passed over Danny and Artemis like it was water, leaving them no worse for wear despite the fact that everything else around them was completely destroyed.

Getting to her feet as quickly as she could, she scrambled to where Danny was laying, once again crumpled on the ground.

"Danny," she murmured, brushing his still snowy white hair from his face, "Wake up Danny!" His chest wasn't moving at all, and though she knew that it meant little in his ghost form, it still terrified her.

A groan could be heard from behind her and then the sound of padded feline feet making there way towards her, but she paid it little mind. All of her concentration was focused on Danny. Artemis dropped onto the ground next to her heavily and stretched out his neck to sniff Danny delicately.

"He will be fine," Artemis said softly, "Darius didn't have the chance to enough damage to kill him. You stopped him just in time."

"But he's so injured," Sam whispered as though if she spoke any louder Danny would shatter to pieces.

Artemis tilted his head to the side as though listening to something far off before speaking to Sam once again, "Meia just contacted me. Apparently Darius had shielded this area from the other Spirits and they were not aware of it until his barrier dissipated with his death. Meia, and one of her daughters, the Spirit of Healing, will be here shortly to help us. And she wanted me to tell you that you did very well. Not many people could have handled that much power and not been consumed by it as well." He chuckled, "You are nearly as much a Spirit of Protection as I am."

Sam gave him a wane smile before turning back to Danny. She couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the next time she wouldn't be so lucky.

ZZZ

A/N: Man, you guys almost didn't get this chapter until Monday, because in like ten minutes I need to go to my Bio lab and then I'm leaving for home right after that, and I can't get online at the house like I do at my apartment. Plus I'm fitting cattle at a show this weekend, and I have to work on my Political Science paper some more. Plus my friend Terry keeps calling and talking dirty on the phone (He's the current dysfunctional relationship), and then I get distracted and jeese, now I'm rambling…

Y'all are the best readers ever! So please review, hopefully the death threats will be a little lighter on this chapter.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	30. The Secret of the Bloigh Crð Croi

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 30: The Secret of the** **Bloigh Crð Croi**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own DP.

Man, I am just now getting over a cold that I've had for the past week, and I was so excited about feeling better because my male companion and I were planning on going dancing tonight, but I just talked to him and he caught my cold! Grrh… It's so aggravating I really wanted to go dancing! But then again he got the cold because he's been taking care of me while I was sick so I feel bad about giving him my cold. So its my turn to play mama (which I tend to do anyway) and take care of him for a while. But I also have to go home to fit cattle for TVE and he has to do some pledge retreat with his Fraternity, so I'll be washing and grooming cattle in the miserable weather, and he'll be camping in it. God, sometimes are lives are so hectic that it takes some work to open up some time for us to just hang out together.

But that's enough of my whining. Here's the next chappie for you!

ZZZ

Sam sat nervously on the bed beside Danny, having been brought home only moments before by Meia and her daughter. Artemis lay in the corner, still in his lion form, licking his blaster wound methodically and looking not much worse for wear.

But Danny was another story entirely.

The Spirit of Healing, whom Meia informed her was named Ethia, was hovering over him, an agitated expression on her face. She had been working ceaselessly since they arrived home, and many of Danny's wounds were healed but the young halfa's condition didn't seem to be improving.

"Mother I am at a loss," she said finally, stepping back, "All of his injuries are healed, and yet he is still not doing any better."

"Can you help him?" Sam asked terrified.

"Yes," Ethia told her calmly, "I am just going to need some assistance." She turned to her mother, a look of distaste clear on her lovely features, "Would you please summon Athe."

"The Spirit of Wisdom?" Meia asked, confusion clear on her ageless face, "Whatever could he possibly do? The very site of blood makes that lecher sick to his stomach!"

"I sensed something within the Halfling that I need him to explain to me," she answered impassively, "Once I understand what I am dealing with, I will be able to finish healing him."

Meia nodded and closed her eyes and a moment later, the crimson eyed Spirit of Wisdom appeared next to her, straightening his robes. "What is it my dear?" he asked Meia sweetly.

"There is something amiss with the Halfling and Ethia needs a little of your wisdom to heal him completely," she told him softly, gesturing to were Ethia floated next to the bed where Danny's comatose form lay, Sam right next to him.

"Oh is that all," he said sounding slightly disappointed, "I was hoping that you summoned me for something more interesting." Meia blushed slightly, as Athe moved from her side and towards the bed.

Spreading his pale fingers wide in the air over Danny's chest, Athe closed his eyes, a faint glow encasing his body as he concentrated. Slowly the glow subsided and Athe opened his eyes, "It is as I suspected."

"Well what is it?" Ethia asked agitatedly, tapping a foot anxiously though she was hovering a foot off the ground.

"The bits of residual crystal have finally re-crystallized within him," Athe said nonchalantly, "He is only still unconscious because it reformed right below his heart and is pressing lightly on a ventricle causing a slightly decreased amount of blood to be pumped to the rest of his body. Because of his unique physiology, however, his body has suspended him in this coma like state to preserve his life."

"Crystal?" Sam choked, "You mean he's like this because of what I did?" She paled visibly and Meia quickly moved to her side pulling her into a comforting hug.

"Not at all," Athe assured her soothingly, "What you did saved his life. No, he is like this because of what happened when he was fourteen."

"When he became a halfa?" she asked weakly, leaning into Meia's embrace.

"Yes," Athe replied solemnly, "But that story is best left for when your mate is awake." Turning to Ethia he smiled, "Would you be so kind as to remove the crystal so that the young Halfling may awaken. I believe that if he is unconscious much longer, his mate may pass out."

"Certainly," Ethia said with a slight bitterness in her voice directed at the elder spirit, her hands and arms becoming intangible as she reached into Danny's chest, and delicately removed the crystal from where it sat nestled just under his heart, once it was removed he immediately transformed back to his human form. Opening her hand she revealed a chunk of emerald, about half the size of what hung around Sam's neck. Ethia sat it lightly on the bedside table before turning back to the rest of the group.

"Its part of the pendant," Sam gasped, and was about to assault the spirits with a volley of questions, when a soft groan from Danny suddenly drew all her attention. "Are you feeling okay?" she murmured to him softly as she pushed some now black hair out of his eyes.

"Better than I know I should be feeling," he groaned, his eyes still closed. One of his hands found its way into Sam's and grasped it tightly, "What happened?"

"I'm not totally sure," she sniffled, "One minute Darius was going to kill you, the next the baby activated the pendants causing them to fuse together and destroy Darius."

Meia looked at the couple slightly taken aback, "What do you mean the baby activated the pendants? I thought that they were feeding off of your emotions seeing as how the pendant will protect the woman carrying its next master."

"The baby is oddly attuned to its mother's emotions Mistress," Artemis said, hefting himself off the ground and coming over to them, where he rested his giant lion head on the bed next to Meia's knees. She reached out and softly began to scratch him behind one ear.

"Okay, I'm really lost now," Danny said, forcing his stiff body into a sitting position, despite Sam's efforts to keep him laying down, "I know that the baby can glean Sam its ghost sense, and when she got really upset at thanksgiving dinner she gleaned the ability to shot a ghost ray, but the baby doing all these things by itself? I just don't quite understand that."

"It's kind of like how you can make others intangible when you touch them," Athe explained as both he and Ethia perched on the side of the large bed, "Because the baby is such a part of Sam at this point, all of it's systems linked to hers, it allows the baby a heightened sense of awareness thanks to its partially ghost DNA. This child is very smart already, even though it is still several months until it will actually be born."

"You mean we're going to have some kind of supper genius kid, because it's already learning?" Danny asked, the very idea making him somewhat nervous.

"Not exactly," Athe explained patiently, "It's an instinctual intelligence, an understanding of emotions and what they mean. From Sam's emotions, the baby is learning what they feel like and the appropriate response. For example, it understands danger, and when a physical response is necessary."

"So the baby has learned the differences in types of danger?" Sam asked, her eyes wide with amazement, "So by feeling how I respond to things it knows how to respond to them in the future? So like when I restrain my anger at the way my mother behaves, it teaches the baby that that situation doesn't warrant a physical response, but the kind of anger that I felt towards Darius did."

"Exactly!" Athe exclaimed happily, glad that someone understood what he was saying, "It's a sort of built in defense mechanism if you will. But like all humans, the baby will still overreact at times, so everything won't be completely smooth sailing, but hopefully this will help the two of you keep Danny's ghost side a secret from those who wouldn't understand it, or are fearful of things that are different from themselves."

"That's amazing," Meia breathed, looking at the slightly shocked couple next to her.

"Well as fascinating as all this is, Athe," Ethia said slightly agitated, "You should probably tell them the story about the emerald so we can get out of here. It's not safe for us to be in the human realm for to long."

"You're such a worrier Ethia," Athe said shaking his head, "How about you heal Artemis's wound and than head back to the Hall. Will that make you happy?"

"Very," she replied in a monotone as she got off the bed and walked around to the side where her mother and Artemis were sitting. She healed the big cat quickly, and then without so much as a word she disappeared.

"Please excuse Ethia," Meia said, shaking her head, "She hasn't been on very good terms with her father for the past 100 years."

"Father?" Sam and Danny questioned in unison.

"Honestly," Athe pouted, "Why does everyone find is so hard to believe?"

Meia shook her head, trying to hide her uncomfortable smile behind her dark hair, "I have hundreds of children. You can't possibly believe that they were all conceived immaculately, I'm the Spirit of Motherhood, not Innocence."

"Can we just get back to talking about the emerald," Sam said, feeling very uncomfortable talking about the love life of spirits.

"I think that would be best," Meia blushed, also slightly embarrassed by the conversation, "Athe, if you would."

"Alright," he sighed, "I believe that both of you are aware that the pendants were originally part of an emerald in the possession of a Celtic Warlord known as the Pariah of Darkness, but I don't believe that you, or anyone else for that matter know how it came to be in his possession." The two shook their heads and he continued, "Well as you know the pendant is called theBloigh Crð Croi, which in Irish-Gaelic translates roughly to mean 'Half Blood Heart'."

He looked the two directly in the eye, noting the comprehending expressions beginning to form on their faces, "As it turns outthe Bloigh Crð Croi is the crystallized heart of the worlds first Halfling. He was a very talented young monk who sought to try and keep the lands safe from people who sought to bring chaos and destruction, and keeping with that goal he also became one of the world's most talented exorcists. Regrettably that was what became his downfall."

Athe sighed heavily, as though telling the story was weighing greatly on him, "Being such a talent exorcist, many novices came to him for training, and he would happily take them on, glad to spread to them his desire to keep the lands safe. It was with one such novice that he became a Halfling. They were trying to exorcise a small farm town that was believed to be haunted by the spirit of an old man whom had died there years before, when the novice made a dire mistake in the ritual, causing the monk to loose half of his life." Athe paused, "But the monk hid it well, and in secret he learned how to use his new abilities to help those he had while he was still completely living. He told only a select few of the other monks and together they worked tirelessly to protect those who couldn't protect themselves."

"Only a few years after his accident, the young monk learned of a powerful warlord who what terrorizing people in the far north of Ireland, and in the dead of night, he made the decision to go and try to reason with the Warlord, and if it came to it, he would make him leave the people alone by force. But in the end, the Warlord was to powerful and he killed the young monk, keeping his heart as a souvenir. Within moments of the young man's heart being removed from his chest, however, it became solid emerald; emerald with amazing powers that the Warlord used until his own death many years later."

"After the Warlord's death, the young monk's comrades journeyed to the man's manor and stole the crystallized heart of their departed friend, knowing that it would have pained the young monk to see his own heart be used for evil. And so the remaining monks made a pact, they would split the emerald into 5 pieces and then one of them would hide four of the five pieces around the world before placing the fifth in between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead with his own suicide. And there it would stay until someone with a pure heart cam to claim it."

The man took a deep breathe, rubbing his face slightly with his hands, "Young one, when you stepped into your parent's portal and stabilized it with your half death, the piece of crystal that was placed between the realms became lodged in your body, and spread throughout your form in tiny pieces, and has been effectively limiting your powers since them. But when Sam and the baby used the pendant to save you, the wave of power caused all those tiny pieces to come back together into a large enough piece that it could be safely removed." He paused, "I must warn you though, that without the crystal in your system limiting your powers, they will increase rapidly, and you must be vigilant in keeping them in check, for they will be dangerous until you master their use. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," Danny answered numbly, still partially shell shocked by the large amounts of information that had been dumped on him in such a short time.

"Good," Meia crooned in her motherly tone, "Now it would probably be for the best if this third piece was melded with what's already hanging around Sam's neck. All the pieces have been found now, so its only a matter of time before the final confrontation arises, and I believe that it would be safest for all if these three pieces were working together to protect not only Sam and the baby, but also themselves."

"There's one small problem with that," Sam said softly, craning her neck slightly to look at the spirit, "I have no idea how I melded the first two pieces together. It just sort of happened when I got so confused and mad that I couldn't think straight."

"That could be a problem," Athe said thoughtfully as he reached over and picked up the piece of emerald that Ethia had placed on the bedside table, "How about your just give it a try, and we'll go from there." He extended the hand holding the chunk of stone towards her.

"Alright," Sam answered with a sigh, taking the proffered stone from the spirit's hand, "But I don't know if this will work." Gathering the larger stone that hung around her neck into her hand as well, she closed her eyes in concentration, only to open them again a moment later, exasperation written clearly on her features. "Well that worked so well!" she growled sarcastically, as she glared at the two separate pieces of stone in her hand.

Athe sighed and rubbed his forehead as he thought, "Can you remember anything that happened when the pendants merged that might be of importance?"

"Well my hand glowed like it was going to fire a ghost ray," she said slowly.

"Then try summoning a ghost ray to the hand holding the pendants," he prompted.

Danny looked slightly confused, "I thought that the baby was the one using the powers?"

"I've been practicing controlling the baby's abilities to avoid another incident like the one at Thanksgiving," Sam explained, "I can actually draw on the baby's powers, for the most part, but only in small amounts. Nothing big like flying or using any of them for to long."

Danny nodded in understanding, and Sam closed her eyes once again, as she began to concentrate. At first nothing happened, but soon Sam felt the familiar tug behind her belly button, and the tingling warmth of an ectoblast began to creep up her arm until it was surrounding the hand holding the pendants. Once again she could feel the slightly squishy melting feeling of the pendants melding together and when she opened her eyes the green light surrounding her hand had disappeared.

Peeling back her fingers slowly, Sam held out her hand so that everyone could see the single, irregular shaped piece of emerald sitting there. And she found herself wondering how something so small and seemingly simple as this chunk of stone, could cause so much trouble.

ZZZ

A/N: This chapter is done! Man it seemed like it was going to be much longer than this when I was typing it up, but whatever. I really should have been working on my Political Science paper instead of this, but the prof gave us all a one week extension, so I decided that this was more important than my paper at the moment.

Well that's all I have to say. You guys are awesome.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	31. I'll Be Home for Christmas

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 31: I'll Be Home for Christmas**

**Disclaimer: **All I own is the plot and my original characters.

Well here's a depressingly short chapter for your enjoyment, mostly dealing with Danny's insecurities about his newly increased powers.

Well on with the story!

ZZZ

Sam had always loved the Holidays, but this year it just seemed so much more… holidayier. 'Okay, that's not even a word,' she reflected, but it was the only way she could think of to describe how she was feeling. Shifting her seat in the taxi to get a better view of Amity Park in all its decorated splendor, a faint smile played across her lips. This was the way she always tried to picture Amity Park, it was so peaceful and beautiful with a fine layer of snow dusting the entire city, even the ghosts laid off around this time of the year. A contented sigh escaped her lips, and she glanced over at Danny who was fidgeting agitatedly in his seat next to her.

"Calm down," she soothed, placing a hand on his arm, "If you stay calm, everything will be fine."

"Sam you don't understand!" he growled in hushed tones, "Since that chunk of emerald has been removed, it's like freshman year all over again! Frankly, I have less control now then I did then, and it scares me to think what would happen if I slip up in public!"

"If something happens, we'll deal with it," she replied, placing a hand over her stomach where the baby was getting agitated as well. Since Darius had nearly killed Danny only a few weeks ago, she had noticed the baby becoming more and more attuned to its father's emotions. It made her entire body feel warm at the thought that even though the baby wasn't even born yet, that it already was emotionally connected to her and Danny.

Though it did have its downsides.

Now, not only did she have to worry about the baby gleaning her powers because of her emotions, but she also had to worry about the powers that came from Danny's emotions as well. The worst part of the whole thing was that the baby seemed to sense its father no matter how much distance was between them. Several times Sam had had to beat a speedy retreat from one of her classes because the baby suddenly did something because it could sense Danny's emotions from all the way across campus.

One of Danny's legs suddenly disappeared and Sam quickly tossed her coat over his lap before anyone could see, and Danny shot her a 'see what I mean?' look. Shaking her head she leaned against him, he had been getting so nervous about the coming baby, and now his powers were acting up. She honestly didn't know how long it would be until he cracked under the pressure. He was already getting short tempered about things, and she knew that it was only a matter of time until he exploded, and as a much as she loved him, she really didn't want to be there when it happened.

When the time came, she would have her hands full enough with trying to calm the baby before its powers made her do something dangerous without trying to calm Danny as well. He was strong, and she knew that he could handle whatever happened; he was also too much of a hero to allow anyone to get hurt should a worse case scenario occur, and his powers got out of control.

"You'll be fine," she told him softly, as she patted his leg, "You got through it once, you'll get through it again."

"But last time I didn't have a baby to take care of and worry about," he answered, his voice sounding much weaker than it had moments before, "What if I fail?" he murmured, a hand coming to rest on Sam's swollen abdomen.

"You won't," she answered seriously, lifting her head from his shoulder to look him in the eye, "I've never known you to fail when someone you love is depending on you, and you're not going to start now."

"How can you have so much faith in me?" he asked, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I've always had this much faith in you, because you never had any faith in yourself," she answered as she closed her eyes, "I've always believed in you, even when no one else did, because I know you, and I know what kind of person you are. You'd die to protect those you'd care about, because you're a hero and that's what heroes do."

"Since when have you been the optimist?" he asked chuckling slightly.

"Since you became a pessimist," she answered easily as the taxi came to a stop in front of Fenton Works. Both clambered out slowly as the driver got their bags out of the trunk.

A slow and honest smile spread across Danny's face as he looked up at the place where he grew up after paying the driver. It was the first truly happy smile that Sam had seen on his face in weeks, and she hoped that it wouldn't be the last.

ZZZ

A/N: Okay, this is an uber short chapter… It's kind of disappointing even to me, and I'm the one who wrote it, but I've been super busy with stuff and I wanted to get a chapter out before thanksgiving break. Hopefully if I get my work done really fast over break, I can have the next chapter up for you when I get back Sunday night. Plus, next chapter highlights the birth of Jazz's baby, and I'm really looking forward to writing it.

Once again, sorry for the short chapter.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	32. Jazz's Christmas Baby

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 32: Jazz's Christmas Baby**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom.

I have been waiting to write this chapter for so long, so lets just get on with it.

ZZZ

Peace and quiet was not something that anyone with half a brain would typically associate with the Fentons, but that was exactly what Christmas break was proving to be. Not a single ghost had shown up to cause trouble, Jack had kept his bouts of exuberance to himself, and Jazz, at least for the most part, was not having crazy mood swings, though she had consumed her body weight in fudge in a little under 6 days.

After that, there was no denying that Jazz was indeed her father's daughter.

Soft snores could be heard throughout Fenton Works, as the night drug on, and most of its residents were doing their best to get some sleep. Anytime now the entire house could burst into a flurry of activity.

"If Jazz starts having Braxton-Hicks contractions again, I think I'll scream," Sam mumbled as she buried her face in Danny's chest, the barest smile spread across her lips as he wrapped his arms around her, the position need to accomplish such a feet bending both of them into slightly weird shapes.

Sam's belly was definitely starting to get in the way.

"You know how nervous and panicky Jazz gets," Danny sighed, planting a kiss on her head, "The baby is 3 days overdue, I count everyone very lucky that its just false contractions instead of a full blown panic attack, only god knows what that could do to her and the baby."

"I know," Sam answered sleepily, "But you'd think that after the fifth time that she had them, she would have realized that it wasn't actual labor, and that she'd calm down, instead of getting herself worked up and everyone else panicked."

"Jazz is a worrier, you know that," he told her.

"Boy do I ever," Sam's eyes began to droop, "I'm just lucky that my cell phone has unlimited minutes or else the phone bill would be giant with how much she calls me to tell me different stuff that she read." She yawned, "You know that she actually called the other day to remind me that lying on my back for to long is bad for me? Something about the baby compressing a muscle, or something like that."

"She's just trying to be a good Aunt," Danny said rubbing Sam's stomach softly.

"I know," Sam sighed, "It's just that the more she tells me about complications, the more scared I get. You realize that we're not going to be able to have this baby at a hospital don't you? I mean with how strong its ghost powers are already, I don't think that we can chance it." She exhaled heavily, "Meia already agreed to deliver the baby.

Danny was silent for a moment and Sam propped herself to look down at his troubled face. "Now don't go getting all bent out of shape about this," she scolded, "Who better to deliver our baby than the spirit of motherhood herself?"

"It's not that," he replied softly, "I kind of already figured that something like that would happen. It's just…" He freed a hand from Sam's waist to rub his face with, "It's just that we always refer to the baby as either 'the baby' or 'it', doesn't that bother you? I mean there's a little person in there and we're calling them an 'it'. At least if we knew the gender we could call them 'he' or 'she'."

"That's been bothering you?" Sam asked slightly taken aback.

"Yeah," he answered, "Among other things."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she questioned softly as she laid back down.

"Because you said you wanted to be surprised when the baby was born," he told her, and she nearly melted as the sweet and innocent look in his eyes.

"You realize that I only told you that because you had told me that you wanted to wait to find out the gender when the baby was born," she told him, giggling slightly.

"So I guess that we were both just being thoughtful, saying what we thought the other one wanted to hear," Danny added, beginning to chuckle as well.

"Sounds like it," Sam answered through giggles, "So do you want to know what the baby is?"

"You know already?" he asked, becoming angry for a split second as he forced his eyes to stay blue instead of flashing green.

"I didn't find out on purpose," she answered placating, "Meia accidentally let it slip when she checked me over before we left Spirit Haven for break." He nodded in understanding, and she continued, "So you want to know?"

"Of course," he said impatiently.

Leaning forward, so that her lips were only centimeters from his ear, she whispered, "It's a girl."

Danny's face split into the biggest smile that Sam had seen since she had told him that she was pregnant, and he hugged her gently. He was about to whisper something to her when a scream suddenly erupted from a room down the hall, causing the whole house to shake.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Jazz shrieked again, and the sounds of multiple people leaping out of bed could be heard as Danny and Sam joined the scramble, pulling on the clothes that they had left sitting out just in case.

"Those don't sound like Braxton-Hicks," Sam said anxiously as they burst out into the hallway, just in time to see Maddie and Jack explode out of their own room. Another chain of swear words erupted from Jazz and a second later Garry appeared at the door, "I need a hand in here! Sam, Maddie, could you two try to calm her down?!"

The two women quickly pushed past him into the room as Gary grabbed Jazz's duffle bag and handed it to Danny, "Once they calm her down we need to get her to the car quickly. Her contractions are coming fast and hard." As if to prove his point Jazz screamed again, this time with much more force and not quite so much profanity.

The three men visibly paled at the sounds emanating from Jazz's room, and Danny turned quickly, stumbling down the stairs with his dad right behind him. Danny had thought that an overprotective Jazz was terrifying, but it had nothing on a Jazz in labor.

Another scream followed them down the stairs, and Danny felt his vision temporarily blur as he nearly crashed into the door that lead to the garage. 'God I hope Sam isn't like this when she goes into labor,' he thought as he finally managed to open the door and began to move shakily towards the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle.

ZZZ

Sam held Danny's head to her shoulder as they sat in the waiting room at Amity Park Community Hospital. His eyes were closed tightly, and he looked ready to pass out. She chuckled slightly to herself, the only birth he had ever been at was his own, which he didn't remember for obvious reasons. And now he was hearing first hand the pained screams and angry shouts of his sister who was at the end of the hall in one of the Labor and Delivery rooms.

She knew that she was partially to blame for his current state of distress, as she hadn't been overly adamant about making him watch any birthing videos or the like. His only reference for this was the staged Hollywood births on TV shows or the small snippets of actual labor that he had seen on the discovery channels abundance of birthing shows. None of which had prepared him for the frighteningly real event.

One of his hands could be felt coming to rest on her stomach and she smiled as he nuzzled her neck subconsciously. "I'm so sorry that you're going to have to go through that," he whispered to her, his voice still shaky.

Catching his face in her hands, she forced him to look at her. "I'm not," she told him seriously.

A faint smile ghosted across his lips, and he was about to reply when the sudden sound of slamming doors cut him off.

"Where is she?!" a familiar female voice echoed through the room from where a slender redhead in a puffy pink dress was accosting the nurse at the maternity ward circulation desk.

"I don't know who you're talking about!" the nurse cried, throwing her hand over her head as if to block a strike.

"You better tell me where she is!" the woman threatened, as her blonde husband barely managed to catch her around the waist before she dove across the desk at the clearly terrified woman.

"Mom!" Sam nearly shouted in surprise as she jumped to her feet, still surprisingly spry for a woman who was nearly 7 months pregnant.

"Sammykins!" her mother shouted, wriggling out of Mr. Manson's grip before bolting to her daughter in a very undignified manor. "Is something wrong?" Mrs. Manson asked, nearly in tears as she placed a perfectly manicured hand on her daughter's stomach, "We saw that dreadful RV tearing this way… And we thought… Oh, Sammykins, thank god you're alright!" And with that, Mrs. Manson pulled her startled daughter into a surprisingly strong hug for such a small woman.

"Mom, I'm fine!" Sam said, pulling away from the woman, a confused look on her face.

"Then why are you in the Maternity Ward of this dreadfully impoverished hospital?" she asked, a glimmer of her snobby self shining through her smudged eyeliner and ruffled exterior.

"Danny's sister Jazz is in labor," Sam explained patiently, "We're waiting to go see them once she delivers."

A scream echoed down the hall, and the color drained out of Mrs. Manson's face, "Oh, dear… Is that her?"

"Yeah," Sam had to suppress a chuckle at her mom's expression, "She refused an epidural and she won't take any pain killers. She's bound and determined to have her baby as naturally as possible."

"I assume that your labor will be similarly un-drugged and 'natural'?" her mother asked, worry clear on her face.

"Yep," Sam answered with a nod, "But don't worry, we have the best midwife in the world." She and Danny shared a secretive smile.

"That's good," Mrs. Manson sighed, sinking into a nearby chair and pulling her daughter down next to her. "I'm just so thankful that you're alright," she murmured, "I was so dreadful to the both of you last time I saw you. I just wanted what's best for you… But when I saw that tank of an automobile speeding down the road I just got so scared for you and my grandbaby." Her hand once again found its way to Sam's abdomen.

Sam choked back a sob that she hadn't even realized was building in her throat as she grabbed her mom and hugged her tightly, "Everything's fine mom."

"I'm so glad," Mrs. Manson whispered into her ear, tears streaming down her face, ruining her already smudged makeup even more, "I love you, and this child…" she pulled back slightly a smile on her face and a chuckle in her voice, "Hell, I'm even becoming quite fond of your unborn child's father!"

A door at the end of the hall burst open, and everyone turned to see Gary come sliding out into the hallway, and ecstatic grin on his face. "It's a boy!" he shouted as he threw his hands up in the air and proceeded to do a strange version of what one could only construe as a 'touchdown victory dance'.

That was until one of the nurses came out of the delivery room, grabbed him by the arm, and drug him back inside.

Sam burst into wild peels of laughter as she leaned back against Danny, "I think that's the most excited I've ever seen anyone! Not even Tucker has ever acted like that, and that's saying something!"

Even the Mansons began to chuckle along with their daughter.

A few minutes later, a nurse came into the waiting room and told them that they could see Jazz and the baby. The Mansons took that as a que to take their leave, and told Sam that they would make sure to visit her before she returned to school, and tearful hugs were exchanged.

Finally, they made it to Jazz's recovery room.

Everyone crowded around the bed, looking down at Jazz and the peacefully unaware baby in her arms. Danny reached out taking Sam's hand and twining their fingers together, they exchanged a smile before turning their attention back to Jazz and the baby.

"Everyone," Jazz said softly, her voice hoarse from all the yelling, "I'd like you to meet Michael Andrew Olexa."

ZZZ

A/N: Guys I'm so sorry for the delay. I've been uber busy, and this week is finals week for me. I still have four exams to take and a Portfolio Review for my drawing class, so count yourselves lucky that I'm even updating this now. But also there's some bad news, because break is coming up I may not update until January. I will try my damnedest to get it up before then but I really can't promise anything.

Also when I was writing this chapter, I realized that Gary didn't have a last name. So I decided that I'd expand upon the baby name that I had already picked several chapters ago. Michael Andrew Olexa is actually my Great-Grandfather's name, and I decided to use his last name also, instead of just his first and middle. As an interesting side note, Michael Andrew is actually the name my family has forced on me in regards to naming my first son. I'm not even married yet and they're naming my un-conceived children. Jeese, what's next!

And mucho thanks go out to all of my reviewers. Y'all are freaking awesome!

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	33. The Oracle's Gift

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 33: The Oracle's Gift**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, only the plot of this story.

Okay guys, I have like a million excuses as to why you're just know getting this chapter, but none of them really cut it seeing as how I've had this chapter done for nearly two weeks. I just kind of got distracted by everything going on in my life.

Gosh, that sounded lame even to me…

Well on with the story…

ZZZ

_Flashes of glowing green blood… A young man who looked vaguely familiar, crashing roughly into the ground… Crimson eyes laughing cruelly as the screams of a newborn could be heard cutting through the din... A dark angel throwing herself to the ground beside a broken young man cradling a small infant in his arms, a trickle of green blood dribbling down his chin… Her angered cries echoed through the air like the shrieks of a siren as she turned her brilliant amethyst eyes on the hated red eyed figure standing before her laughing…_

Joss sat up quickly, her breathing coming in ragged gasps as she tried to calm her wildly beating heart. She felt like she was choking on the very air sustaining her and she suddenly felt violently ill. Stumbling from her bed, she barely made it to her bathroom before the contents of her stomach exploded past her lips. Kneeling on the cool tile beside her toilet she found her breathing slowing, and the terror that had been clenching her heart subsiding. She had only felt a terrible foreboding this strong once before in her entire life, the night that she had the dream that inspired the painting of the dark angel.

She shivered, the dark angel had also made an appearance in this dream, and now instead of a confused detachment to the scene she felt a much too real attachment to the dark angel whose face was that of her friend. But also, beneath that attachment she felt mild recognition at the face of the white haired young man who, despite the hair and eye color, was the spitting image of her friend's fiancé.

"I'm loosing my mind," she groaned, rubbing her face with her hands and pushing her sweat soaked red bangs out of her eyes. "I thought that I'd gotten past these visions and now all of a sudden they're cropping up again," another groan escaped her lips as she pushed her sheets way and climbed out of bed, stumbling towards her closet. Opening the doors, she dropped to her knees and pulled out an old looking cardboard box. Unfolding the flaps she pulled out a stack of wrinkled papers before sitting back and spreading them across the floor in front of her. Some were crayon drawings, bearing her full name written proudly on the bottom in the rough printed script of a 6 year old. Others were done in marker, and signed in bold bubble letters. Still more were charcoal drawings with her name appearing abbreviated as 'Joss' for the first time, and the final 2 were graphic watercolors bearing no signature at all.

Those watercolors had been done several years ago and they, as all the other images that had also been stored in the box, had come to her in dreams, and as she looked at them she could see a theme to them that she had never noticed before.

The dark angel appeared several times, though in these images she appeared much more human than heavenly, the white haired man also could be seen, though much younger and occasionally with dark hair. And in each of these images they were fighting what appeared to be ghostly monsters. Shaking her head she stuffed the pictures back into the box and stood slowly, taking the box and dropping it onto her bed before heading out of the room and into her makeshift studio. Rooting through her pile of unused canvas she selected one and headed to her easel; grabbing a few brushes from the floor she quickly prepared her pallet, squeezing blobs of concentrated paint onto the surface and filling her water can halfway. Selecting a brush, she settled herself in front of the canvas; wetting the bristles she began to mix water into the paint, as she stared at the flat white surface of the canvas as though she were seeing an invisible image that she was preparing to make visible.

Taking a deep breathe, she lifted her brush and began to paint.

ZZZ

Saying that Danny and Sam were dead on their feet would have been an understatement. Whoever said that being an uncle and aunt was easy had obviously never spent an extended period of time with newborn baby Michael. 'Holy Terror' was a name that came to Sam's mind as she handed the wailing baby to his exhausted mother. Poor Jazz was worse off than any of them; 8 days after giving birth and she had still not gotten a single wink of sleep. Seeing this, Sam had made it her personal mission to help Jazz as much as she could.

"You need to sit down Sam," Danny whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "You're ready to drop."

"Alright," she sighed, leaning back into his embrace, "I just wanted to try and give her a break before we head home tonight."

"You've done plenty Sam," he told her as he pulled her gently onto the couch, "You need to worry about your own health a little. Remember, our little girl is due in March."

"I know," she murmured as her eyes began to drift closed, despite the fact that little Michael was still crying incessantly, "I just feel so useless sitting there when he starts to cry, and poor Jazz is just so tired…" But she didn't get to finish her sentence as her eyes closed the rest of the way and she finally fell asleep.

"I'm going to take her upstairs," Danny told his sister as he stood, Sam in his arms, and transformed, disappearing through the ceiling.

Looking down at her son, Jazz smiled broadly, "You poor little thing. You were born into one of the weirdest families possible. Your grandparents are ghost hunters, your uncle is half ghost, your aunt's a vegetarian goth, and your little cousin is going to be part ghost as well." Shaking her head, she tickled her son's chin softly, "But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way."

"None of us would dear," Maddie told her daughter with a chuckle, as she entered the room carrying a plate, "I brought you some lunch; I figured that you're probably pretty hungry by now."

"Starving," Jazz said with a thankful smile.

ZZZ

After tucking Sam under the thick blue comforter on the blowup mattress, Danny took a step back as he transformed back into his human self. He felt so tired, but it wasn't the kind of tired that could be cured by a nice long nap. Dropping heavily to the ground beside the mattress he crossed his legs in front of him and took his face in his hands, allowing his elbows to rest on his knees. For so long when he was younger, fighting ghosts had seemed almost like a video game come to life. But now…

His eyes drifted along Sam's sleeping form to her bulging stomach. There was too much riding on this demented game of Vlad's for him to give up now, everything that had made his life meaningful was riding in the balance. This was the one fight that he couldn't afford to lose.

Shaking his head, as if to force his troubling thoughts to the background, Danny climbed onto the mattress next to Sam in hopes of getting at least a little sleep before they had to head back to Spirit Haven.

ZZZ

Joss pushed back from the finished painting before her. It was by far her best work, and yet she couldn't help the feeling of sadness that swelled within her chest as she looked at it. Even though it was only a painting of a dreadful battle scene, she couldn't help the tears beginning to spill down her cheeks for the young man, who was near death, lying on the ground with an infant clutched to his chest. Bringing her hands to her face, she wiped furiously at her eyes, smudging some of the paint that had been on her fingers onto her face in an attempt to rid herself of the tears.

No matter how many times she told herself that it was just a painting, she couldn't help but feel as though it was a death sentence.

Picking up the painting she took it to the drying rack and shoved it behind it, there was no way she could ever let Sam see this one. She knew exactly what the gruesome scene would do to her friend. Sam's pale face would shift from curiosity, to shock, and then to sadness and fear, and Joss couldn't bear to see that happen. Sam was the first female friend that she had ever had that wasn't just friends with her because their mothers had arranged it, and she didn't think that she could handle causing her friend pain, because deep in the pit of her stomach she knew that her friend had already suffered enough, though she wasn't entirely sure how she knew this.

Maybe it was that strangely ethereal quality that Sam's eyes held that made Joss, feel this, leaving her often wondering what kind of things Sam had seen that normal people did not.

What kind of unearthly horror show had her friend lived to give her violet eyes that haunted look when she thought that no one was looking?

ZZZ

A/N: Okay guys, that was kind of a filler chapter that was basically used just to set up for the next one which will hopefully be out in a day or two.

Please forgive me for the big gap between updates, College life began to catch up with me. I've been studying for Statistics a lot, as well as going out dancing and practicing the Merengue (probably spelled that wrong) for my Latin Dance class. Plus Dad's in Africa on business so I've had to go home a lot to help out my Mom.

All and all my life has been really crazy.

Y'all are freaking awesome!

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	34. Drawing Nearer

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 34: Drawing Nearer**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom.

Okay guys, here's the next chapter like I promised. I was going to upload it yesterday but I got distracted, so I decided that I'd do it today before my Latin Dance class.

Hope you like it.

ZZZ

January faded and February took its place. March was approaching fast and it left Sam nervously fidgeting as she went through the routine of going to class each day, occasionally catching sight of her reflection in a pain of glass or a polished tile floor. It made her feel huge whenever she caught site of her distended abdomen, which as of late was nearly possible to avoid.

She supposed to others that she appeared quite comical. Even with nearly 8 ½ months of development the only things that had grown noticeably were her breast and of course her stomach, the rest of her was still the skinny girl that she had always been. It worried Danny a little that she was still so skinny, despite her large stomach, and he was constantly trying to get her to eat more. But in all truth she was eating like a horse, she had even added small portions of lean beef to her diet because she knew that they baby needed the protein, that and the fact that she had begun to get irresistible cravings for the food that she hadn't had since she was 5.

Sam shuffled uncomfortably in the driver's seat of her car, it wasn't the most comfortable seat in the world and the pain in her lower back from carrying all the extra weigh was not making it any better. But she put up with it, even smiling slightly as she drove down the winding road that would lead her to Joss's apartment. She liked to drive, even though she knew it made Danny nervous, but then again recently everything was making Danny nervous. Pulling into the parking lot beside Joss's apartment building she grabbed her portfolio from the passenger seat before climbing out of the car and heading for the building.

Augustus Young, the professor that she had had for both Introduction to drawing and now Advanced Drawing, had entered both her and Joss in an art competition in Denver. Seeing as how she wasn't going to get to go because of the baby, Joss had offered to take her entries and written artist statements for her. So, in the interest of the contest and just so they could goof off a little, they had decided to get together and pack up their entries so Professor Young could FedEx them to the hotel where Joss would be staying. It was his hope to keeping them from getting damaged by Joss's notoriously bad driving on the way to Denver.

Knocking on the door Sam couldn't help but smile at the sound of Joss excitedly bounding to the door, and then cussing when she ran into something because she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. The door swung open and Joss immediately pulled Sam into a hug.

"It's been to long," the girl exclaimed pulling back from the hug.

"We saw each other in class yesterday," Sam giggled as Joss shoed her into the apartment.

"But it seems like forever!" Joss whined, stomping her feet a little as she lead Sam to her studio where they would be packaging up their work.

"Honestly Joss," Sam chided jokingly, her tone sounding very motherly, "Ever since your boyfriend Pietro headed to Germany to visit his parents you've been acting like a needy, severely hug deprived, little girl!"

"S-a-m-m-m, you're being so mean!" Joss complained dropping to the floor.

"J-o-s-s, you're being ridiculous!" Sam whined back, settling herself on the floor on one of Joss's big floor pillows.

"You're right," Joss cracked up, finally reverting to her normal tone, "I was being stupid. I felt a little weird when he first left, but now I'm just pulling your leg with the whinny baby act. I know how it annoys you."

"Why is it that I seem to be blessed with friends that enjoy annoying me?" Sam asked as she chuckled slightly, "Sometimes I almost think that you and my friend Tucker from back in Amity Park are actually some sort of freaky science experiment twins separated at birth."

"You actually think that some whacked out mad scientist would genetically engineer a set of twins with two separate ethnic backgrounds, and place them in strategic places in the country just to annoy you," One of Joss's eyebrows was raised as she stared at Sam, "You must have the biggest ego ever."

"Honestly it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me," Sam sighed, rubbing one slightly puffy ankle with her right hand, "You have to remember that where I grew up, ghosts were a pretty standard fixture just about everywhere."

"Hello," Joss motioned around her, "Spirit Haven! Caldwell! We've made the top ten most haunted Universities list ever since they started the stupid list! Ghost's really aren't that strange. I actually saw one of the old Professors on campus yesterday, and he's been dead 20 years!"

"Oh yeah," Sam replied looking slightly sheepish, "I keep forgetting about that. I guess it doesn't seem like that big of a deal because all the ghosts here are of the non-malevolent variety. Back home they can get pretty nasty, like skinning-you-and-putting-your-pelt-at-the-foot-of-their-bed nasty."

"Eww," Joss scrunched up her face in revulsion, "That's totally gross."

Sam just laughed as she pulled her contest entry out of her portfolio, "I finally finished the drawing." She handed it to Joss, waiting for the other girl to tell her what she thought.

"This is really good Sam," the girl said, her eyes scanning over the graphite image critically, "Your values are a lot smoother and bolder looking, and the proportions on the figures are really accurate. Did you do it from a photo?"

"I drew it from memory," Sam answered sheepishly, biting her lips slightly.

"That's amazing," Joss locked eyes with her, as she gently sat the drawing down careful not to bang the corners of the mat against anything or tear the thin layer of shrink plastic protecting the graphite image from being smudged. "You got a lot of really fine detail into to it for it being from memory."

"Thanks," she mumbled, a light blush staining her cheeks as she looked down at the graphite image of Jazz passed out asleep on one of the Fenton's old arm chairs, surrounded my blankets and pillows, with baby Michael clutched to her chest, "The image just kept popping into my head so finally I decided that it would be my entry."

Joss nodded, "Sometimes the best stuff is what just comes to you out of the blue."

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a faint smile as Joss stood up and helped her to her feet, "I guess that we should get all this stuff packed up so we can just hang out for a while and not worry about it."

"Sounds like a plan," Joss answered, "Could you get the painting lying on top of the drying rack while I go grab the other two and the bubble wrap."

Sam nodded her head and moved over to the wooden rack as Joss headed into the other room. Reaching out to grab the watercolor, a portrait of an Egyptian priestess, Sam suddenly stopped, noticing a corner of a fairly large canvas sticking out from behind the rack.

"What's this doing here?" she muttered as she pulled it out and turned it over so she could see the image.

But what she saw nearly made her drop the canvas in alarm.

It was her, kneeling next to a dieing Danny Phantom, clutching his newborn daughter to his chest a faint smile on his ectoplasm stained lips. A pool of his glowing green blood surrounded them, standing out brightly against the dark green of the grass, the oak tree behind them was broken in half, the break smoldering where she could only assume an ectoblast had hit it. She knew that tree, and that grass… A soft gasped escaped her lips as she realized why the battle field looked so familiar.

It was their backyard…

Joss's footsteps could he heard as she headed back to the room and Sam quickly stuffed the painting back behind the rack before grabbing Joss's entry and heading back to where all the packing things were laid out. A split second before Joss reentered the room Sam did something that she hadn't done since high school...

She constructed a mask.

She forced a smile, keeping it as natural as she could manage making sure that it was not to wide or toothy, before concentrating on keeping her eyes from getting to glossy or looking to emotional. Her eyes always seemed to betray her, but Joss didn't seem to notice as they began to chat happily, though Sam's happiness was very much faked at this point.

ZZZ

Sam didn't let her mask fall until she was safely curled into a ball under the warm blankets on the bed that she and Danny shared. For a moment she felt blissfully empty, but suddenly all the emotions that she had been containing rushed out as a broken sob escaped her. She could feel the baby begin to move about agitatedly and she placed a hand over her stomach to calm her as she continued to sob openly.

She had never been so grateful in her life that Danny was horrible at Biology, and had tons of evening study groups for it. She couldn't let Danny see her like this. He hated it when she worried, and he hated it even more when she cried. Choked sobs continued to wrack her thin frame as she tried desperately to keep her little one calm; the last thing she needed was to blow something up.

The sobs continued, each on sounding more piteous than the last. Her heart was literally fracturing in her chest as she remembered the painting in horrible detail, Artemis's words from so long ago echoing in her ears, _'She is a latent Oracle.'_

What Joss had painted was the future.

Sam suddenly felt unbearably cold, despite the layers of warm blankets, and one of her hands left her stomach to cover her face. Her tears had stopped falling, but her body was still shaking with tearless sobs. How could she live without Danny? Was there no way to save him, was she just to sit back and watch him die?

She felt the baby kick suddenly, and she let out a pained moan. Was her daughter to grow up without a father?

Fisting both her hands in her hair, she curled into as tight a ball as she could manage, despite her stomach being in the way, as more pained noises escaped her. Everything was so unfair… Danny would never get to know his daughter; never see her first smile, see her walk for the first time… He'd miss her first day of school, her fist crush… He'd never get to scare the hell out of her first boyfriend; never get to see her off to her prom… He wouldn't get to give her away at her wedding, or be there to see his first grandchild.

It seemed like the powers that be, had been against him since the beginning. Like he was some sort of cosmic joke that was finally nearing its punch line.

Through her cries she barely heard the front door open, then the footsteps on the stairs and finally the squeaking of the bedroom door opening. Normally she would try and play off an emotional breakdown, but this time her emotions were so broken she wasn't sure they could ever be fixed.

"Sammy?" Danny said softly as he made his way across the room and sat down on the bed beside her, "What's wrong?" He pulled her to him gently, settling her on his lap.

Sam leaned back to look into his eyes, she couldn't tell him the truth. Everyone had made it very clear that his only chance of survival lay in him being kept in the dark. But suddenly she saw Joss's painting flash before her eyes and as she opened her mouth to tell him that it was nothing, she found herself telling him everything.

ZZZ

A/N: Okay well that was the chapter. I tried to make it a little more emotionally charged to lead into next chapter, and the big battle. That means only chapter 35 and 36 are left before it's over. It's kind of sad but exciting at the same time. It might take me a while to get the next chapter up because I want it to be really good, so don't be surprised if it takes me a week or two. I'm pretty busy with school and stuff right now, plus I've been having to go to my parents house a lot more on weekends because my dad's out of the country, and I've been helping pick up the slack.

You guys are great, and until next time… Luv Ya.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	35. Of Birth and Battles

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 35: Of Birth and Battles**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom, only the plot and my oc's.

Okay here's what y'all have been waiting for. The final battle.

Only one more chapter after this. Now on with the story.

ZZZ

The whole room was dark, shadows cast eerily into the corners of the vast space by a single desk lamp on a table in the middle of the room. Banners of green and gold hung from the ceiling, fluttering in a nearly nonexistent breeze. A sigh echoed loudly through the room as the man sitting near the lit desk lamp shuffled through the stack of papers in front of him, which had just been delivered by one of his many minions. Some were completely text, others were full of scientific figures, and some were sheets of notebook paper with photographs tapped to them and notes scribbled around them, while others were ancient looking sheets of parchment covered in fading Gaelic.

Pulling out one of the sheets of parchment, the silver haired man's eyes danced over the words and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"This is it!" his smile widened tremendously, "Maddie I found the answer to our problem!"

A meow echoed through the study as the white cat, Maddie, leapt onto the table and rubbed against her master's face. Vlad reached out and petted the cat softly, temporarily forgetting about the paper in his hands. 'Maybe I really am a cat person after all,' he mused to himself, 'But then again I suppose that even Daniel has to be right every once in a while.' But he quickly snapped himself from his musings, turning his attention back to the parchment in his hands.

"Listen to this Maddie," he said to the cat as he began to translate the Gaelic text for her, as though it would make it more understandable for the feline, " 'The shards of the emerald, known more commonly as the Bloigh Crð Croi, like the emerald itself can only serve one master at a time, the pendants themselves being confined to serving only one of the family lines female descendants at a time; though it has been shown that the pendant will protect a woman not of the family line when she is carrying a descendant of said family."

He pointed at the paper, "This explains why the pendant is protecting Samantha even though it belongs to Daniel," turning back to the paper, he continued reading, "However, immediately following the birth of the child, the pendant will cease to protect the mother, though it will not begin to protect the child, provided that it is female, until the pendant is formally presented to her by one of her parents." Vlad's grin got larger still, "Don't you see Maddie? This is our window of opportunity! We will attack as soon as that blasted child is born, before they have a chance to pass the pendant on to her, it will leave them all vulnerable to attack." He paused, a sad look flitting across his features, "Regrettably Daniel is far to unstable for me to control any longer, so he will have to be dealt with, and obviously Samantha and their bastard child will have to go as well…"

Vlad's expression suddenly became thoughtful, one of his hands reaching into his pocket to clench around the two chunks of emerald resting there, "Perhaps we don't have to kill the child…" He paused, his eyes taking on a far off look, a slight grin forming on his lips, "I always did want a daughter, and according to my sources she has inherited Daniel's ghost powers."

His grin widened, his bared teeth giving the smile a malicious air, "And what better way to send Daniel into oblivion, then letting his last living thought be that his daughter is going to be raised by his mortal enemy?" He chuckled a thoughtful look crossing his face before he smirked happily, "Who would have thought that the vision I tricked Frightmare into planting into Samantha's Oracle friend's mind would actually come true?"

Maddie meowed as if in agreement as Vlad finished, a dry chuckle escaping his lips, "This plan is coming together perfectly."

ZZZ

A soft mumbling from somewhere near her midsection slowly brought Sam to the waking world. She fought the urge to stretch, knowing that to thorough a stretch would leave her back in agony for the rest of the day. Keeping her eyes closed she listened to Danny speaking softly to her stomach, trying to sooth the squirming baby within; she had long since gotten used to the baby's movements and had learned to sleep through even the roughest kicks.

But it woke Danny every time. He slept so close to her know that it would be nearly impossible for him to not notice the movement of their daughter.

Since she had spilled her guts to him about everything she knew concerning the pendant and coming battle just a few weeks ago, he had been such a different person. He had not resigned himself to death like many would, but instead he had grasped life with both hands. She had never seen him so without fear in all the time she had known him, and she had known him nearly her whole life. Opening her eyes slightly, she glanced down at Danny. He was curled up with his lips centimeters from her bare stomach, his breath tickling her bare stomach as he murmured to the baby. Her gaze drifted upwards slowly, falling on her left hand, lying on the bed beside her, and she focused in on her ring finger with eyes still blurry from sleep. The ring on her finger had just suddenly appeared one morning two weeks ago.

She had woken up and it was simply there.

Since she was young, her mother had insisted on teaching her the fine art of jewelry appraisal, telling her that it was only proper that she be able to know whether or not the jewelry her suitors gave her was real. She hadn't used it since then, but now it gave her a true appreciation for the ring that she had seen only once before the morning it appeared on her finger.

"_Come on Sammy!" a five year old Danny said excitedly as he pulled his friend behind him._

"_I told you its Sam! Not Sammy…" she grumbled as she allowed the boy to drag her up the stairs, "So what's this thing that's so great you just had to show me?"_

"_My Grandma brought it when she visited last week, she told mommy to hold onto it for me until I was big enough," he pushed open the door and drug her into his parents room._

"_We're not supposed to be in here!" Sam hissed, pulling her hand out of Danny's and backing towards the door._

"_Mommy said that it was okay just this once," he told her as he clambered up onto the chair in front of his mother's dressing table, " 'Cause I really, really, really wanted to show you what Grandma brought!"_

_Sam sighed and walked over to where Danny was. Despite her nervousness at being in his parent's room where they had always been forbidden from going, she was curious about what he wanted to show her._

_Grabbing a small velvet box off the top of the dressing table, Danny turned to Sam and opened it exposing the most beautiful ring the young girl had ever seen._

"_It's so pretty Danny," she breathed, her eyes as big as saucers, "But it's a girls ring, are you sure that it's not for Jazz?"_

"_No," he said, with patience surprising for a five year old, "Grandma told me that it was her 'gagement ring, and that one day it would be mine, and I could give it to the girl I want to marry, but I told her girls were icky. She just laughed and said that I wouldn't always think that, but I think she's crazy."_

"_Well I'm a girl!" Sam huffed, "Am I icky?"_

"_Oh, come on Sam! You're my best friend, you don't count," he whined, having no clue that this was the first of many arguments that they would have on this subject._

_Sam said nothing and stormed out of the room._

All that she had known back then was that the ring was pretty, but know she knew just how impressive a bauble this heirloom was. The band was finely crafted platinum, with a heavy antiqued finish, that formed swirls and loops around the fairly sizable diamond in the middle, with small chucks of sapphire and amethyst nestled delicately inside the loops. Her parents had always thought that Danny was not worthy of her, and here she was, wearing an antique engagement ring from him that would probably appraise for more than her mother's engagement and wedding bands combined.

They had never exactly talked about the appearance of the ring on her finger, but, like many things in their relationship, it was something that didn't need words. She knew what he was asking when the ring appeared, and he knew her answer by the fact that the ring had not left her finger since then.

And despite the cloud of worry hanging over their heads they were happy, but the happiness made Sam paranoid. For once in his life, Danny was truly living, and it terrified her to know that the very life he finally had could be taken from him so soon.

She almost shivered at the thought of Joss's painting, but she resisted so that Danny wouldn't know that she was awake, as he hated waking her up when he knew she needed her sleep.

She really didn't want to think about the painting, but the image kept popping into her mind. What kind of cruel joke were the powers-that-be playing on them? For Danny to die just as his first child was born…

Unbidden tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Trying to gain control of her rampant emotions, she focused in on the soothing sound of Danny's voice as he continued to talk to their daughter.

"And once you're big enough I'll teach you how to use those powers that you inherited from me. I had no one but your Mommy and Uncle Tucker to help me figure them out, but you'll have someone to teach you all about them from experience." He paused, "That is if I'm still around."

His voice caught slightly in his throat, "I hate to tell you this kiddo, but there's a chance that I won't be around to long after you're finally born. There's this really bad man that's out to get me, but no matter what I won't let him hurt you or mommy, you got that kid?"

He planted a soft kiss on Sam's stomach, right below her belly button where she could clearly feel the baby laying pressed against her abdomen. "I love you kid, and don't you ever forget that."

"You shouldn't talk like that," Sam whispered, looking down at him, all thoughts of continuing to fake being sleep fleeing her mind, "You're going to be there to teach her all these things, and to see her grow up…" Tears were flowing freely down her pale face now, as she desperately wished that her words were true.

"Sammy," Danny murmured crawling up so his head was level with hers, "You know as well as I do that there's a pretty good chance I'm not going to make it. Those visions of Joss's were given to her by the spirits to show us what was to come."

"But you weren't dead in the painting!" she clung to him desperately, "Just badly hurt!"

"Sam, look at me," he grabbed her face and forced her to look him in the eye, "If there was as much blood as you say there is, there is a slim chance that those were survivable wounds."

"Then we'll run!" she was shaking now and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, "We'll disappear before the baby is born! Before Vlad attacks!"

"Sam, we've had this conversation before," he locked eyes with her again, and nearly felt his resolve begin to melt, "I'm not running from this battle, because no matter where we go, he'll find us, and if not us, then our families. I am not going to let him hurt anyone I love ever again; I'm tired of fighting him. It's time I take a stand."

"But if he kills you, it'll hurt everyone that you love," she whimpered, feeling the bubble of power forming behind her bellybutton. Danny seemed to feel it too, and gently placed his hand on her stomach.

Immediately the power dissipated.

Sam smiled faintly through her tears, "You're so good with her."

"I try," he answered sheepishly, though she could tell that he didn't completely believe her words.

"I'm not lying," she said softly, "It would have taken me a while to calm her down and something probably still would have blown up because of how upset she was getting."

"Just doing my job," he shrugged, though a smile had crept onto his lips.

Sam was about to reply when a sudden wave of pain rippled through her middle. Her eyes got wide, and her mouth formed an 'O' as her hands tightened their grip and Danny.

"Oh damn."

"What is it?!" Danny asked, his voice sounding small and frightened, "What's wrong?!"

"I think I just had a contraction," Sam said slightly dazed. In the back of her mind she wondered why Jazz had screamed so much when her contractions had started. Sure it hurt, but it really wasn't as bad as Jazz's shrieks had made it seem.

"You 'think' that you had a contraction?" Danny questioned, confusion clear on his face, "Isn't that one of those things that you should know?"

"Well I've never had a baby before so excuse me-e-e… Aahh…" her words were lost as another contraction gripped her, this one more intense than the last.

"Okay that was definitely a contraction…" she said shakily once it had passed, her hands falling from where they had been clenching Danny's shirt.

Danny sat up quickly, and turned his head towards the door shouting, "Artemis! Go get Meia, Sam's in labor!" Artemis could he heard scrambling to his feet as Danny turned back to Sam, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"I'm okay," she said softly, "Just stay here with me."

He nodded and grasped one of her hands in his own, "I'm not going anywhere."

But no sooner than the words left his mouth, a red light flashed brightly outside there window and Danny's ghost sense went off as well as the baby's. Sam and Danny looked at each other grimly, as dark chuckle echoed through the silence coming from the backyard.

"I have to go Sammy," he whispered leaning his forehead against hers.

"I know," she murmured, closing her eyes and rubbing her face gently into his, before opening her eyes and meeting his gaze.

"You just stay where it's safe and wait for Meia. Okay?" he asked, she nodded slowly, and he moved to climb off the bed.

"Danny," she whimpered, reaching out and grabbing his arm before he was two far away, "Please don't die."

"I'll try my best."

Tears were streaming down both their faces now, and Sam pulled him close, pressing her lips to his with so much desperation that Danny nearly didn't have the will to leave her. Pulling back they both swallowed hard.

"I love you," Sam told him, her face the picture of sorrow.

"I love you too," he answered, "Both of you." He leaned in kissing her softly just as another contraction hit, he could feel it pulse through her entire body, starting from her abdomen and coursing outwards. He could feel her whimper in pain against his lips, and it nearly killed him to know that not all of the pain in her voice was from the contractions.

Pulling away and climbing off the bed before his will to leave completely disappeared, Danny transformed, giving Sam one last look. "Make sure she grows up knowing me." Sam nodded, no longer having the strength to argue back, and with that, Danny disappeared through the bedroom wall.

With shaking hands, Sam reached over and picked up her pale lilac maternity nightgown that Jazz had gotten her for Christmas, and tugged it on over her head. She normally slept naked, but right then the very thought of sitting there in the buff disgusted her. She knew that at any moment the fight could burst through the bedroom wall and she most definitely didn't want Vlad to see her naked and in labor.

Had the situation not been so dire she would have laughed. Here she was worrying about her state of undress while she was in labor and World War III was being waged in her own backyard. Another contraction hit and she hissed at the feeling, curling up to try and ease the pain. Soon enough the pain eased and she was left gasping for air.

Shifting into a more comfortable position she did the only thing that she could.

She waited.

And she hated it more than anything.

ZZZ

Blasts of green and red shot through the yards, illuminating the space in an odd mixture of the two colors of bright burning ectoplasm. It was like being trapped inside the kind of Christmas tree you would find in a haunted house. A large bolt of red ectoplasm tore across the yard and Danny dodged it quickly before spinning midair and shooting off a volley of ectoblasts at Vlad.

Vlad shielded himself easily with a wall of sparkling crimson energy, and he laughed arrogantly, "You're getting faster Daniel, I'll give you that much. But you're no where near fast enough."

"You wanna bet!" Danny snarled, launching himself at Vlad like a rocket, his green ecto-energy forming a shell around him.

Vlad smirked, purposely sliding out of the path of the Halfa projectile at the last possible second. "Your anger is clouding you mind, my boy," Vlad told him sardonically, "You are normally a much more worthy opponent than this."

"I'm just getting warmed up," Danny told him calmly, as he pulled out of his bullet like flight path, skidding sideways mid air. Had Vlad not trained himself to be indifferent to glares and the other hateful gazes often encountered in the corporate world, he would have shivered at the sheer intensity of the young man's gaze. Bringing himself even with Vlad, some twenty feet away, Danny extended both hands in front of him; a look of intense concentration on his face. Pale blue energy formed around his hands before shooting out directly at Vlad.

Panic was evident on the older man's face for a split second as he frantically dodged the dozen icy spears that had been hurtling directly at his chest. "Ice powers!" he sputtered, his normally unflappable demeanor broken temporarily, "Since when do you have ice powers!"

"For a few years now," Danny shrugged as though it was no big deal.

"A few years, Daniel?" Vlad asked incredulously, his composure having returned, "Honestly what kind of fool do you think I am? I would have seen them by now had you had them that long."

"I don't really care to use them that much," he answered, his voice sounding as though he was bored with the whole situation, though on the inside he was so hyped up on adrenaline that he was ready to explode.

"Enough talking, lets just get back to the business of making young Samantha a widow," a vicious smirk spread across his lips, "Oh that's right, she wouldn't be a widow would she? Seeing as how you didn't have the common decency to marry the girl before you impregnated her…"

"Shut up!" Danny shouted, the rage in his gut finally exploding outwards as his hands were engulfed in fiery emerald ectoplasm.

"Ahh," Vlad's lips twitched upwards, "There's the over emotional Daniel that I've become so accustomed to."

"Quit your yapping and fight me you bastard," Danny growled, firing the ectoplasm that was surrounding his hands.

"With pleasure."

ZZZ

Sam whimpered as the pain from yet another contraction began to ease. It had been nearly twenty minutes since Danny had sent Artemis for Meia and they had still yet to arrive. She was beginning to worry, it normally took less than a minute for Artemis to transport to the hall of the spirits and then transport back with Meia. It used to be nearly instantaneous, but Meia was now pregnant once again and was incapable of teleporting herself or even hearing the telepathic calls of Artemis and the other spirits.

Fear clenched Sam's heart. What if something was wrong with Meia, and that was why it was taking so long? The Spirit of Motherhood had told her that this most recent pregnancy was very odd and even though she was not very far along, a spirit's gestation being a lot longer than a human's, she had already had numerous complications.

But her worrying was cut short by the howling of Danny's ghostly wail, the house shaking with the intensity of the sound waves. That was one noise that she would never mistake for anything else, and she grimaced as she felt similar vibrations from her midsection, though they were much gentler. A faint smile graced her lips as the vibrations faded, though Danny's wail had not. The baby seemed to have recognized the wail as her father's and had tried to answer him.

Her smile completely disappeared, however, when the wail was abruptly cut off and the sound of a body colliding with a tree could be heard. Everything was silent for a second, until the sudden cracking of wood could be heard, followed by the sound of a tree crashing to the ground. Sam held her breath as silence once more reined, but as a deep chested laughter began to flow from the direction of the backyard her blood ran cold.

That laugh…

Vlad's laugh…

"No!" she cried, stumbling to her feet and numbly making her way to the bedroom door, despite the fact that her legs felt like rubber. She nearly crashed into the door before grabbing the handle and pulling it open. Her entire body was thrumming with terror and she knew that she couldn't just sit in the bedroom for even a moment longer. She was faintly aware of the sinister laughter ceasing as she moved into the hallway, but then suddenly a contraction gripped her and she doubled over leaning heavily against the wall for support.

"Please baby!" she cried her hands pressing to her lower abdomen, and her voice desperate, "Just cooperate with me and everything will be fine!"

Tear came to her eyes as she cried out loudly again; the contractions were getting worse and lasting much longer than before. The pain finally began to fade and she pulled herself upright, leaning against the wall as she struggled vainly to catch her breath. The contractions were bearable, she had developed a high tolerance to pain over the years, but she could feel her muscles beginning to tire.

Where was Meia when she needed her? She didn't know what she was doing! And with each passing instant she was feeling more and more panicked. Between her labor and the battle in the backyard she was beginning to doubt that her heart could handle the stress. Stumbling slightly down the hallway, with one of her hands on the wall for support she made her way to the top of the stairs. The five steps that it took to make it there had seemed more like five thousand and she panted slightly at the exertion. Peering down the steps, she whimpered slightly. She'd never make it down the steps before another contraction hit, and with her luck she's end up falling the rest of the way.

Gripping the banister with one hand, her other staying firmly on the wall, she eased herself down until she was sitting on the top step. It was vastly uncomfortable sitting like that but she gritted her teeth, and concentrated on the task at hand; if she didn't think about the pain she knew that she could push it to the back of her mind. Slowly she brought her right hand from the wall and rested it on the banister beside her left, gripping the wooden railing tightly. And then, with much concentration, she eased her feet down to the next step and lifted her body slightly, moving her butt down onto the step where her feet had been previously.

Working her hands down the banister she repeated the process, again and again, the repetitive motion required little thought, and she felt her mind begin to wander. Almost desperately she tried to think of anything but the situation that she was in, as the muted sounds of battle that were reaching her were conjuring horrible images before her eyes. Gnashing her teeth together she tried to push the images of a bloodied and broken Danny from her mind. 'He's strong,' she told herself firmly in her mind, not having the power to say it aloud, 'He'll be fine. He always comes back. I have no reason to worry.'

Continuing vigilantly down the stairs a memory of a conversation that she had had with the Spirit of Motherhood several months ago crossed her mind quite unbidden by her conscious mind.

"_He'd gladly lay down his very life so that you and your unborn child may live even a moment longer," the ethereal woman told her quite somberly as her hands brushed delicately over Sam's stomach, checking the baby's position._

"_I know," Sam murmured, craning her neck slightly to peer out the bedroom window. She could barely see Danny sitting on one of the high branches of the oak tree. Only a shoulder and part of leg could be seen from the angle that she was at, but she knew that he probably had a textbook spread in his lap as he tried vainly to stay awake as he read over the pages. "I just wish that he understood that I'd do the same for him and our baby," she sighed, laying back down and closing her eyes, "He sees himself as expendable. Like his life doesn't matter so long as those he loves are safe."_

"_He is a noble soul," Meia said soothingly as her cool fingers pressed into Sam's stomach slightly, the baby instantly moved away from the pressure, and a faint smile spread on Meia's lips before it disappeared with her next words, "He sees himself as expendable because he doesn't see his own worth. He doesn't understand that he means as much to you as you do to him." She shook her head moving her fingers a few inches along Sam's stomach and pressing again, "I spoke with Athe recently on this subject, and he believes he knows why your mate feels this way." She took a deep breath, "Danny's own natural instincts have been vastly amplified by his ghost half. As a human before the accident, he valued his loved ones more than anything. As such when the accident occurred and he became half ghost, he took on a ghost's most dominating trait."_

_She paused, looking down at Sam as if gauging if the young woman could handle what she was about to say. After a second, she continued, "He inherited what ghosts call an Obsession Point. It is the thing that binds ghosts, at least partially, to the living world; without emotions strong enough to sustain an Obsession Point Danny would have died in that accident when he was fourteen." Sam gasped as Meia continued, "Over the years, his Obsession Point has narrowed somewhat, as the desire to protect everyone would have undoubtedly driven him mad. His Obsession Point now consists of basically you and the child you're carrying."_

"_What about the rest of his family?" Sam asked her mind slightly numb from the information._

"_He still desires to protect them," Meia told her gently, "But with you and this child it is different. Without one or both of you, Danny would die the rest of the way. Whereas the both of you would be able to survive in the event of his death, even though it would cause you pain."_

_Meia patted her stomach soothingly, "In a perverse way, Danny's opinion is correct. If he were to die, you and the child would live on afterward, but if it was the other way around, he would die as well."_

She was barely half way down the steps when she felt the first grabbing pains of her next contraction cut through her thoughts. She was almost grateful for the pain, which had successfully managed to pull her free of her haunting memory. Gripping the railing tighter, she braced her legs and as the pain hit her fully she whimpered out piteously, as she tried to concentrate all of her remaining thought onto keeping her stationary on the steps.

Finally the pain passed and she took a few shallow breathes before beginning her trek down the stairs once again. It was slow work, but finally she reached the bottom step. Taking a deep breath, she planted her feet on the soft carpet of the entryway and heaved herself to her feet. A wave of dizziness swept over her and she closed her eyes against it. Growling slightly in agitation, Sam clenched her hand more tightly on the banister. She hated not being in control of her body, it made her feel completely useless.

Opening her eyes she prepared to step forward when a sudden rush of warm liquid from between her legs stopped her dead in her tracks, her eyes going wide and her mouth forming an 'O'.

Her water had just broke.

She could feel it trailing down her legs slowly and forming a puddle on the floor, and it was honestly one of the most disgusting things that she had ever felt in her entire life. Sam took a stumbling step sideways, crashing back first into the wall, and looked down at the puddle, not at all surprised to see it streaked with bright green ectoplasm. "That's so gross," she mumbled to herself as she scooted along the wall towards the dinning room.

Rounding the corner and moving quickly, well as quickly as a woman in labor can, Sam grabbed the back to one of the dinning room chairs just as another contraction hit. A strangled cry escaped her mouth, a similar one echoing back at her from the backyard, and she nearly fell to her knees. From all that she had read, she knew the baby would be coming soon, and that for her own good she should stay put and just pray that Meia got there in time, but a choked yell of pain from Danny told her other wise. She could tell by his tone that things were going badly, and she knew that she had to get to him.

Fighting her way to her feet as soon as the worst of the pain was gone, Sam staggered towards the back door, the aftershocks of her contraction still running rampant across her abdomen. Wrenching the door open with all her strength, Sam moved forward onto the small porch and then off into the unkempt grass of their yard.

Her breathe caught in her throat as she looked at the destruction before her. The large proud oak tree that Danny loved to read in was cracked in half, lying haphazardly on the ground, and deep ruts could be seen in the ground. A few feet from her was a pile of splinters that had previously been their picnic table, and a hundred feet above her head two streaks of bright red and green darted at each other like angry fireflies, crashing into one another and being thrown apart a dozen or so feet before darting at each once again. Every time the two streaks struck one another a shower of sparks was given off, some remaining lit long enough to reach the ground and leave small scorched circles in the grass.

A grabbing pain struck her abdomen and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out, drawing blood with the sheer ferocity of her bite. She knew that even at this distance Danny would her cry out in pain, and instantly turn to her despite being in the middle of a life or death battle. It was then that she realized that he had probably heard everyone of her pained cries while she had still been in the house, and tears sprung to her eyes at the thought that she had been distracting him from the battle all this time.

It was ironic. When they were younger, she would have given anything to be able to distract him like both Paulina and Valerie could, but now she wanted nothing more than for him to give his full attention to the battle at hand instead of thinking about her.

The two fighters dropped a few dozen feet through the air and sudden burning heat hit her chest; she suppressed a gasp as she grabbed the now very hot chunk of emerald around her neck and held it away from her skin, being careful to hold it by the mercifully cool silver chain. Above her she could her Vlad snarl several curse words as he dug into his pocket and extracted the two pendants that he had managed to get, also being careful to hold them by the chain. Looking around frantically, he spotted her on the ground, a wide grin spreading across his pale face.

"So nice of you to join us Samantha," Danny's eyes shot to where she was standing as Vlad crooned, "And you brought the rest of my emerald for me. How thoughtful of you, your manners are so much better than Daniel's, but then again," he chuckled slightly, "You were raised better than he was."

A feral sounding growl escaped Danny's lips as he tore his eyes away from Sam and focused them back on Vlad, "Leave her alone!" He cracked his knuckles and they were once again surrounded by bright green ectoplasm.

"Why must you be so obstinate?" Vlad questioned, an eyebrow raised at the fuming youth before me, "Why don't you just give into the inevitable and make this easier on yourself? Even the pendants can sense that the emerald shall soon be whole again, and they are preparing themselves for the joining."

"I will not let you hurt Sam or our daughter!" Danny snarled, lunging forward and bringing his brightly glowing hands out in front of him and firing a of an ectoblast. It struck Vlad directly in the chest and he was thrown back a few feet, but instead of showing his pain the man laughed.

"What makes you think that I'll hurt the child?" Vlad was chuckling deeply, a malicious grin spread across his face that made Danny shiver, "Of course I have to get rid of you and Samantha, but the child will be fine." He paused, watching realization spread across Danny's face, "I've always wanted a daughter."

Danny's eyes widened and Sam's hands shot to her mouth in horrified shock.

Vlad wanted their baby.

"You bastard!" Sam shouted, her entire body shaking with the beginnings of a contraction, as her hand clenched more tightly around the pendants chain. As the contraction took its full hold over her she sunk to the ground with a strangled sob.

Danny's eyes darted to Sam's prone form before focusing back on Vlad, "You sick, twisted, son of a bitch." He gritted his words out between his teeth, his hands clenched tightly into fists, "You aren't getting anywhere near my daughter, even if I have to drag you down to hell myself."

"Again with the semantics Daniel," Vlad shook his head, as though ashamed, "How many times to I have to tell you that emotions will do you nothing but harm."

"I'll show you harm," Danny growled coldly, his normally lively bright green eyes darkening with his anger. Then like a shot fired out of a cannon, Danny exploded forward dodging Vlad's attempts to block him, and closing his right hand around Vlad's neck.

Vlad's red eyes widened in shock and he exhaled sharply in surprise, all the air leaving his lungs in a rush. His hands began to scramble uselessly at Danny's single gloved hand slowly crushing his throat, the crimson energy surrounding Vlad's hands not even phasing Danny in the least as his steely gaze locked on Vlad's eyes. A sick satisfaction built in Danny's stomach as he watched Vlad struggle; half ghosts didn't need to breathe nearly as much as humans, but they still needed to breathe.

Suffocation would be a slow and excruciating way to die for a halfa, but it was an end that Danny felt suited his archenemy quite well.

On the ground, Sam watched in terror as Danny's grip tightened more. Never before in her life had Danny ever scared her, but now, he was absolutely terrifying. A crackling noise began to fill the air and Sam looked around in confusion as sparks of electricity snapped and cracked in the air around her, distracting her from the battle waging high above. Slowly the noise intensified as the sparks condensed into a small bright white light. Suddenly the white light burst, showering the ground in embers as the slightly rumpled figures of Artemis and Meia stumbled forward.

"Dear child I am so sorry that it took us so long," Meia gushed as she moved to Sam's side and dropped to her knees next to her, "Someone places a strong force field around the Spirit's Hall and it just now weakened enough for us to break through."

The white lion moved to Sam's side anxiously, "The force field was a one way thing, so I didn't know of it until it was too late."

"All that matters it that you're here now…." Sam gritted out between her teeth as she tried to make her way through another contraction.

Meia looked at the girl sympathetically and patted her knee gently, "I guess it's time to get to work." Meia's deft hands adjusted Sam's position as she moved to kneel by Sam's feet. "Artemis go and lay down behind her so she can pillow her head on you side," the woman instructed as she proceeded to rip long slits into either side of Sam's nightgown so she could lift it up out of the way.

Checking Sam as gently as she could manage, Meia forced a smile, "You're ready to push when the next contraction comes." Sam nodded, already feeling the next contraction building. As it hit she began to push, her hands digging into the ground, ripping up chucks of grass and dirt.

The feeling was an odd mix of pain and terror, and she felt like she wasn't the one in control of her body. She could faintly here Meia giving her instructions which she was pretty sure that she must be following because Meia would occasionally croon the words 'Good Girl' to her, but if she was asked to repeat what the spirit had said she knew that she would fail miserably. Part of her screamed that she should be paying attention to what she was doing but as soon as her eyes locked on Danny and Vlad high above her all remaining thoughts were pushed from her mind.

"One last push," Meia told her, and she was dimly aware that she had nodded to acknowledge the spirits words. She could disjointedly feel her body begin to push, but even that barest hint of self-awareness disappeared when she saw Vlad suddenly smile, his eyes flashing red as he quit struggling against Danny. Rearing back on of his hands Vlad's smirk widened as the hand shot forward.

Straight through Danny's chest.

A strangled scream shot through her as she saw Danny's hand slip from Vlad's throat, the older man supporting his limp form with the arm that was still through his chest. Another cry escaped her as Vlad freed his arm, allowing Danny to plummet to the ground below. He landed only a few feet from her with a sickening thud and the only thing that kept her from moving was the lion who had placed a paw on her shoulder to hold her still.

"Let me go!" she wailed, her body trembling with both her contraction and the terrible crushing feeling that had settled over her heart. The lion refused and she bellowed out again, "I said LET ME GO!" She jerked against the lion's paw as a green light exploded from the pendant around her neck, the ones in Vlad's pocket doing the same as she continued to fight against Artemis and Meia.

But the sudden wail of an infant stopped her cold in her tracks.

Collapsing back against Artemis, silent tears began to stream down her face as Meia handed her the small infant that, even in the greenish glow surrounding them, looked just like the young man laying only a few feet away. The baby continued to cry and Sam didn't have the heart to make her stop, her poor little girl was going to loose her father before she even got to know him.

Vlad's deep laughter reached them and the green light began to pulse around them, the pendant floating slowly into the air, coming to a stop only a few feet above mother and daughter. The laughter suddenly stopped, only to replaced by a panicked voice, "What sorcery is this!" Vlad shrieked loudly, and Sam barely mustered the will to crane her neck to look up at the man who was being pulled quite rapidly into the two chunks of emerald that had burned their way free of his pocket.

As the last wisps of white cloak were sucked into the two pendants they seemed to melt together before beginning their descent to the pendant still floating above Sam. The two masses of molten green stone melded together before solidifying and dropping to the ground next to Sam. Reaching out she picked up the emerald, looking down sadly at the perfectly crystallized Halfling heart in her hand, and she couldn't help the sob that escaped from her throat as she tightened her fingers around it. Pulling herself to her knees weakly as she made her way over to Danny, their daughter clenched tightly to her chest and the emerald in one of her hands.

His eyes were glazed over, but she could see the faintest movement of his chest. For the moment, at least, he was still alive.

"Danny?" she whispered, terrified that he wouldn't answer.

There was complete silence for a moment before his lips twitched slightly and a single word escaped his lips, "Sammy."

She nodded, tears pouring from her eyes and trailing down her cheeks unchecked, "I want to introduce you to your daughter."

"Artemis?" Danny mumbled, "A little help?" The lion moved somberly to his side and helped Danny into an almost upright position, and Sam suppressed a gasp as she finally got a clear view of the whole running straight through the left side of Danny's chest.

Right where his heart should be…

"It's not as bad as it looks," Danny mumbled, his head bobbing slightly as his neck muscles were slowly loosing the energy to hold his head up, "It doesn't even hurt…"

"Don't lie to me Danny," she answered as she slowly passed the baby into his waiting arms.

Looking down at the baby, Danny smiled, "We do good work." He chuckled to himself, trying to hide the pain that the action caused.

"Danny how can you joke at a time like this?" more tears were falling from her eyes as she looked at him holding his daughter for the first and last time.

"What else can I do?" he asked sadly, before looking back down at the baby, "She looks like a Sara to me, what do you think?"

"Sara Adeline, after both our grandmothers," she confirmed, with a faint smile, "Adeline is Grandma's middle name, and her mothers, and her mother's mothers before her…"

"I like it," he said cutting her off before she could work her way into a full on rant, as she often did when she was really upset. "Sam," he paused, "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything," she told him, her hands reaching out to cup his face.

"Promise that you won't follow me," he said softly, locking eyes with her. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off, "I know you Sam, and I know what you're planning. But Sara needs her mom, especially since she won't have her dad around. So promise me."

"Don't talk like that Danny," Sam pleaded, leaning her forehead against his.

"Promise me Sam."

His voice was getting weaker, so Sam did the only thing that she could, "I promise."

"Thank you love," he mumbled, barely getting the words out before his eyes drifted closed and he slumped back against Artemis, his arms loosening their grip on Sara.

"You're welcome," Sam whimpered though she knew he couldn't hear her. Sobs began to rack her slight frame as Meia picked up Sara, moving away to give the girl room. Artemis slowly slid out from under Danny's back, gently placing him on the ground as his too moved away. They watched sadly as Sam through herself forward onto Danny, her hands fisting in his jumpsuit as she cried into his chest.

Danny may have been the one to die, but Sam was the one who had lost her life.

ZZZ

A/N: Please don't kill me! DToB runs and hided in preparation for attack There is one more chapter after his that should be up later his week. I don't want to leave you hanging to long because even I can admit that this was a seriously evil cliffhanger.

Oh and as a side note, this is by far the longest chapter in the story. I just couldn't stop writing. Oh, and sorry for any errors you might find, I only checked over it really quick because I wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

You guys are total awesomeness, and until next time… Luv Ya.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


	36. Resolutions

**How Feelings Change**

**Chapter 36: Resolutions**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does.

Well here it is, we've reached the end of the line. So here's the final chapter of 'How Feelings Change'.

Happy Reading…

ZZZ

Never before in Sam's life had she ever cried as hard as she was now. The pain in her chest was so great that it was as if her heart had been ripped out as well. Sara could be heard wailing in the background, right along with her mother. She had only stopped briefly while her father held her, but as soon as his grip had loosened, her cries had begun anew. The cry was an oddly melodious blending of a ghostly wail and a human cry, and it made Sam's sobs come harder, knowing that their baby girl would never know her father.

How would she ever manage to teach their daughter to harness her ghost powers? When Danny was learning about his, all she had been was moral support, but Sara was going to need much more. She was going to need a teacher who actually knew what they were talking about.

"Damn it Danny!" she growled, freeing her fingers from his jumpsuit and bringing her tiny first down on his chest. "How could you do this to her?! She needs you! I need you!" She continued to pound on his chest, her voice gaining volume as she went, "What about Amity Park? And your family? What about Jazz? This'll kill her Danny!"

Sitting back, she covered her face with her hands, not caring about the bright green ectoplasm that was covering much of her skin and clothes. Her tears had stopped, but not for a lack of wanting to cry, it was like she had simply run out of tears. Peeling her hands away from her face, she reached out and gently stroked the side of his face with her knuckles before running her fingers through his snowy white hair.

And despite the situation, she couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't transformed back yet.

Suddenly a memory flashed through her mind.

"_He inherited what ghosts call an Obsession Point. It is the thing that binds ghosts, at least partially, to the living world; without emotions strong enough to sustain an Obsession Point Danny would have died in that accident when he was fourteen." Sam gasped as Meia continued, "Over the years, his Obsession Point has narrowed somewhat, as the desire to protect everyone would have undoubtedly driven him mad. His Obsession Point now consists of basically you and the child you're carrying."_

Sam gasped slightly.

He hadn't transformed back yet because part of him was still clinging desperately to life. His human half may have died, but his ghost half was still bound to the body! But the sudden bubble of excitement that had built in her stomach burst as she remembered a time back when they were 14, when Danny had split himself in half with the Fenton Ghost Catcher. It had been complete chaos. Neither half of him was stable without the other to balance him out.

Shaking her head sadly, her mind like a shattering stain glass window, she trailed her hand down the side of Danny's face to his right shoulder, before dragging her fingers across his chest to the gapping wound were his heart used to be. Soon her other hand joined the first, and together her fingers traced around the edges of the ragged hole, her fingertips becoming coated in the green liquid. Would Danny end up like Gwen? Part of him trapped forever in his own body, incapable of passing over? Only unlike Gwen, no one could come and take away what was binding him to his body after death. He was bound by his own emotions, whereas she had been bound by her sister's pendant.

'The pendant!' her mind suddenly shrieked as she frantically tried to dredge up the information that she had read all those months ago.

_The Bloigh Crð Croi is an ancient pendant said to possess the power to permanently banish a ghost to the afterlife. According to folklore, only 5 were created. The emerald that is hung on the silver chain is a portion of an emerald that was once in the possession of a powerful Celtic Warlord know as the Pariah of Darkness, and upon his death the emerald was split into 5 pieces and hung from 5 separate chains…_

…_According to Pariah, the original emerald was actually the crystallize heart of a being who could pass from the mortal realm to the spirit realm at will; and when the emerald was still whole, it had the power to grant passage to whoever wielded it._

A plan had begun to form in her mind, and she reached beside her, grabbing the emerald that lay there in the cool grass. Slowly and methodically she smeared the ectoplasm on her hands onto the stone, making sure to cover it completely.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, all she knew was that she had to do it.

Running through what she could remember of high school anatomy, she oriented the stone heart and reached out, slowly pressing it down into the wound in Danny's chest.

"Please work," she whispered, her lips trembling as she pushed the stone heart into place, terrified beyond anything that she was doing the wrong thing. For all she knew the emerald could trap Danny's ghost half permanently in the ghost zone with Vlad, but something deep inside her told her that she was right.

The emerald began to glow faintly, and pulsed randomly under her hand finally falling into the steady, vibrating beat that had put her to sleep nearly every night for the last nine months.

Under her fingers, she could feel veins reconnecting, as the large puddle of ectoplasm surrounding them was slowly drawn back into the capillaries and veins that had been severed by Vlad's fist slamming through Danny's chest. The stone slowly softened into flesh, as what before had been a pulsation of energy became the steady contraction of muscles as they circulated blood. Pulling her fingers back she watched in fascination as muscle, bone, and skin knit themselves together leaving behind not so much as a scar as they closed up the fatal wound.

The whole world seemed to be holding its breath, even Sara had ceased wailing. All eyes were on Danny's still form.

And then it happened.

Like a tremor starting from his feet and working its way up, Sam could see small muscular spasms dancing along his form. Her heart was hammering viciously against her chest as the spasms stopped. It felt like a hundred lifetimes had passed, when in reality it had only been seconds, before a sudden shuddery, gasping intake of breath parted Danny's lips, his back arching off the ground with the sheer force of it.

Bright emerald eyes snapped open, locking on the teary amethyst ones above him. "What happened?" he croaked, his voice sounding like he hadn't used it in years, "I thought that I died?"

"You did," Sam murmured to him softly, cupping his face with her hands, amazing even herself by not throwing herself at him and sobbing into his chest.

"Then how…?" His confused expression was almost enough to make Sam giggle.

"When Vlad struck you in the chest, he destroyed your heart," she began to explain, her voice much calmer than she felt. It seemed so odd to her that she could explain this to him as calmly as she was considering the emotional rollercoaster that she had been on recently. "But since the emerald was actually the crystallized heart of the first halfa, I sort of replaced yours with the emerald, and your body healed itself from there."

Forcing himself into a sitting position he looked at Artemis and Meia who were standing back several yards. "How is this possible?" he asked the spirits.

"When the emerald is whole, it has the power to move between the realms at will," Meia started softly, so as not to agitate the squirming baby in her arms, "And when you were killed, only your human half died. Your ghost side refused to let go." She paused, "When Sam placed the emerald within your chest it allowed your ghost side to reclaim your human half from the ghost zone, therefore restoring you to life."

"Wow," he breathed softly, looking slightly dazed.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, pulling him into a hug and burying her face into his shoulder, her emotions slowly beginning to catch up with her, she would probably break down sobbing later, but for right now she still felt very much together and at peace, "Please don't ever scare me like that again? I love you so much."

"I'll do my best," he told her, kissing her hair gently, "I love you too."

Slowly she pulled away slightly, only enough so that she could meet his gaze. His shocking green eyes spoke volumes about everything running through his mind at the moment, and she smiled knowingly. Closing the gap between them, she pressed her lips to his. A shiver swept down Danny's spine, as Sam felt the familiar tingle of him transforming back to his human form. It was odd to feel the tingling through her lips, a sensation that she had first felt all those years ago with the first awkward fake-out make-out, and she knew that no matter how many times it happened the feeling would still give her the chills.

Then again, she reasoned, kissing Danny always gave her chills.

Their kisses, no matter how chaste they were at times, always held a sense of urgency. They both knew the dangers that they faced on a daily basis could prove fatal at any moment, a lesson the had just learned all to well, and it was times like this that made them both wonder why they had wasted all that time in denial when they were younger.

Finally after a long moment, Sam's logical side kicked in, despite everything that she was feeling at the moment, and she broke away for air, "We should get you into the house, you may be healed, but you still need your rest."

"You need your rest too," he told her seriously, stroking the side of her face, "Or need I remind you of the fact that you just gave birth?"

"No," she chuckled, "The soreness is enough to remind me, but before I can go to sleep, I need to feed Sara."

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "That's not the kind of thing that I can do for ya, is it?"

She raised one eyebrow, trying to keep from laughing at the look on his face, "Not unless you suddenly start lactating."

"Can guys even do that?" he asked, confusion clear in his blue eyes, as Artemis came over and helped them to their feet.

"I don't think so," she answered as she took her daughter from Meia's arms. The spirit smiled and disappeared to leave the couple alone, Artemis glanced between the two before deciding that it would be best if he left as well. "Now let's get inside, I'm wiped and I'm sure that Sara's hungry, she's been through a lot of stuff already and she's not even an hour old," Sam continued, before turning and heading towards the house.

"Can I carry her?" Danny asked suddenly, catching Sam's arm lightly to stop her.

Sam blinked, slightly surprised at his request, "Yeah, of course, as long as you feel up to it. She is your daughter too." Passing Sara gently to Danny, a smile quirked at the corner of her lips as she saw the pure adoration and wonderment in Danny's eyes as he gazed at their daughter.

"Hey little girl," Danny murmured to her, as Danny and Sam continued towards the house, moving onto the back porch and into the house, "Looks like I'm going to be around for you after all." Sara gurgled contentedly at her dad, one arm flailing around happily, and Danny found tears springing to his eyes as he looked down at the perfect combination of him and Sam that was resting securely in his arms.

"She's perfect," Danny whispered, his voice sounding watery as the tears spilled over his cheeks.

"Yeah she is," Sam agreed, leaning her head against Danny's shoulder, her eyes locked onto the little bundle in his arms, "You were right, we do good work."

Unexpected laugher bubbled up Danny's throat, and soon Sam was laughing as well. It was a good, relieved laughter that left both of them gasping for air and smiling broadly at one another. They had made it through yet another seemingly impossible situation, and they were both alive and healthy, with a newborn daughter to show for their struggles. For once everything was right in their world, and this time, unlike the short periods of calm that they had had in the past, neither of them were worried that everything could come crashing down on them at any second.

For once, neither of them feared what the future might hold.

ZZZ

A/N: Well here is the last chapter, and for all of you who wanted to kill me last chapter, I hope that my ending satisfied you. I won't be doing a sequel, but I may do a couple of one-shots about Sara growing up.

I had originally wanted to post this yesterday on my birthday (I'm now 20, and still watching cartoons. It's kind of sad really.) But I had way to much work to do before I went out dancing last night with my friend Terry. I had to do Statistics Homework, and write two papers for Technical Writing, plus I had to finish a paper for Animals in Society. I didn't even get back to my apartment until 12:30 this morning, and I had to get back up a few hours later so I could get to my 8'oclock History Class and take an exam. So I just had to finish it between classes today so I could get it posted before I went home for Easter Break.

This has been a wild ride, and y'all are the best. I never figured that I'd get so many reviews, and I want to dedicate this chapter to all of you, because you deserve it. I never would have worked so hard on this if not for you guys.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss


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